The New Chick
by SMakarov
Summary: When a new girl joins 141, the reaction's predictable. The Captains welcome her, the decent guys say Hi, and the rest try to wind her up. But they should be careful. She isn't who she seems to be. She's not just the new chick. She's Makarov's sister. PART I COMPLETE!
1. Goodbye Edinburgh, Hello Afghanistan

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for SIS Agent William, Taylor and Sofia (aka Aleksandra Petrova).**

**Hey people! This is my first story so I'd appreciate if you could R&R! Criticism is okay as long as it isn't rude!**

**XxXxX**

I was sitting in an outdoor café. My black heels tapped against the table leg as I waited for the massacre footage to load. Impatient, I looked away from my two way tablet and turned to the dark ages — the newspaper — for details instead.

'_MASSACRE IN MOSCOW AIRPORT, 234 KILLED'_

Below the headlines was a photo of the airport after the attack. There were white sheets almost everywhere, covering the bodies of the dead, and a yellow tape that ran all around them, holding back family and friends, who appeared to be wailing in agony.

I sighed, picking up my cup of hot chocolate and taking a sip. The warmth of the drink felt good going down my throat, as it was nearly freezing outside. Snow covered every patch of grass, and made a thick layer on the roofs of cars that were parked. I tightened the scarf around my neck and straightened my coat. I regretted not wearing gloves as my fingers were getting paler by the minute.

A little 'ping' brought my attention back to my tablet. It was a message.

_I hacked into the security footage like you told me to and got it. –E_

_Thanks. Send it over. –S_

_Are you sure you want to see this? I watched a bit of it and it's ugly. Don't do this to yourself, it's not your fault. –E_

_Appreciate the advice, but no thanks. –S_

It took a few seconds, in which I imagined my friend pursing her lips together and cursing at me, before the footage was sent to my device. I plugged in my earphones as it started to play. I forwarded it to 08:41:20.

Five men stepped out of the main elevator. They were all wearing bullet-proof vests over their suits. Each held a M240 in his hands. The people in the airport didn't notice them at first, but then slowly they started to. And their eyes went wide with terror.

Things began going haywire as the men started firing at the civilians. People screamed, and pushed trying to get out of the way. The security guards pulled out their pistols, but they were no match up against the Russians. Emily was wrong. This was more than ugly. It was a bloodbath that was leaving heaps of carcasses bleeding out and thousands of families torn. An entire nation in mourning. I paused the video.

_And to think you could've prevented this. _I snapped at myself for thinking that. Not. My. Fault.

_Yes. Not your fault that you are so stupid, so oblivious and so hasty. _I pinched the bridge of my nose as I suddenly felt impure and polluted. Like I'd extinguished hundreds of souls. My eyes fell on the face that was frozen on my tablet's screen.

Vladimir Makarov.

My brother.

My bloody, bastard of a brother had burnt innocent civilians as a 'screw you' to me, all because I (with Emily's help, of course) had managed to foil one of his previous plans by intercepting transmissions between his men and informing the right authorities in the nick of time. And he even had the audacity to taunt me right before it happened by sending a message to my IP Address, inviting me to visit the airport.

The sound of a car pulling up along the sidewalk grabbed my attention. In my peripheral vision, I saw two men in suits exit a black sedan that looked like a government-issued vehicle. I slowly realised they were coming towards me.

I turned off my tablet, and pulled out my earphones, just as the two men stopped before me. I sized them up.

One was tall, with a lean build, perhaps in his late twenties. He seemed to be fidgeting a little. Inexperienced. The other one was a few inches shorter, his hair partially greying, and a stern look etched on his face.

"Aleksandra Petrova?" The shorter one asked.

"How can I help you?" I asked, still seated. They looked dangerous.

"Special Agents William and," he jerked his head towards the taller one. "Taylor. SIS. We'd like you to come with us."

"What does MI6 want from me?" I questioned, calmly putting my tablet back into its cover.

"We just want to talk with you." Special Agent William said.

"Alright then." I got up and walked towards the car. Great. More trouble. Special Agent Taylor opened the back door for me. I slid in just as he shut the doors, and buckled up.

**XxXxX**

"I already told you. I didn't tell the CIA anything."

William sighed in frustration. Even Taylor looked like he was getting annoyed. This was nearly the hundredth time they had asked me the same question and I was giving them the same answer.

They'd brought me to the MI6 headquarters and had put me in an interrogation room. Apparently I had given the CIA an anonymous tip about the Airport Massacre minutes before it happened. Of course I did. And of course, I wasn't going to tell them that.

"Yes you did." The older agent growled. "You tipped the CIA about the massacre right before it happened."

"I didn't. And even if I had, it's supposed to be _anonymous_. The CIA isn't supposed to trace anonymous tips."

"Not unless they believed the tip came from a terrorist."

"Whatever. I still don't get one thing though. If I'm in trouble with the CIA, why is MI6 investigating me?"

"The CIA called and told us to apprehend you. We're not investigating you; we're only holding you." Taylor explained.

"So technically I don't have to answer you." I said, smirking.

William turned and glared at his subordinate. Taylor apologized, his eyes fixed on the ground.

The door opened. I looked up.

It was a man who looked like he was in his early fifties. He had a caterpillar moustache that was cleanly shaved at the ends. He was wearing an army combat uniform, and the name sewn to the right side of his chest read 'SHEPHERD'. On his head laid a black 4 star beret. A lieutenant general.

_This is about to get interesting_ I thought as I sat back in my chair.

"Men," General Shepherd started in his low and gravelly voice to the agents. "The CIA appreciates your help. I'll take it from here."

William glared at me before exiting the room. Taylor shuffled out right after him.

General Shepherd closed the door behind them. He then walked towards the table in the middle of the room. He pulled the chair that was for the interrogator and sat opposite me.

"Aleksandra."

"What?"

"You're in a hell lotta trouble girlie. Tipping the CIA of a mass massacre right before it happens? Makes you look like you were tauntin' em'."

"I wasn't." I hissed defensively. "I was trying to save lives."

"I know. But the rest of the CIA doesn't view this in the same light as you and I do." General Shepherd paused, and leaned forward. "I can help you. Help you get out of trouble. If you tell me how you found out about the massacre."

I looked into his eyes.

He was right. I was in quite a lot of trouble. And if he was my ticket to getting out of it, I should listen to him. But I wasn't going to tell him _everything_. He certainly didn't need to know about Vladimir being my brother.

"I intercepted burst transmissions between Makarov and his men. But it took me a while to figure it out." I shook my head, frowning, pretending to be pissed off at myself. Wasn't that hard. "Should have worked faster. Could've saved lives."

General Shepherd ignored my last comment. "Makarov's good. Intercepting transmissions from him are hard, because they're nearly impossible to trace. The CIA's been trying to do that for quite a while, and they haven't gotten anything. How did you?"

"Because I'm better. Better than Makarov, better than the CIA." And by _I_, I meant Emily.

"I need men, and women, like that."

"Why?"

"For my taskforce."

"Your taskforce?"

"Yes. Task-Force 141. Best hand-picked group of warriors from around the world gathered together with one, and only one motive. Kill. Makarov."

"I've got quite a number of men there. And they've been doing a really good job on the field. But we're not getting any closer to Makarov. You know why? Because our intel is constantly off. With you and your tech skills, that won't happen. You might just be to key to finding Makarov and killing him."

"Do you accept my offer?"

I thought about it for a while. I'd just graduated, and so I wouldn't have to worry about my studies. I did worry about Emily though. She'd be lonely, but then again, it wasn't as if we couldn't keep contact. If I was going to be hacking into high-level stuff, I'd definitely need her help. And a taskforce whose main objective was to kill Vladimir meant that they'd be in the front lines, meaning I could do more damage assisting them then I could in my college dorm room with my roommate. I smiled.

"Yes."

General Shepherd nodded, his face breaking into a thin smile. "Then pack your bags."


	2. Fcking New Girl

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything/anyone other than** **Sofia! :) R&R!**

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><p>The jet touched down in some place that looked like a barrack. Soldiers were walking around, some in full combat uniform and others in army issued green shirts.<p>

There were buildings here and there; a few of them seemed to be housing the soldiers. The rest looked like they were indoor shooting ranges, gyms, armory etc.

"I thought it was a covert taskforce. How come you're situated in the middle of an army camp?" I asked General Shepherd.

"The soldiers here don't know that we're a taskforce. They just assume that it's another part of the camp that's for other recruits."

I nodded. The general started to walk, and I followed him.

"Your name isn't really Aleksandra Petrova, right?"

"No. That's just an alias. My father was Spetsnaz, so he didn't want us to have our real names for fear of security. Real name's Sofia."

"Sofia what?"

"I'm going to make a deal with you. In exchange for me joining your taskforce to help out your men, I want you to never ask me for my surname." I proposed.

The general turned, but didn't stop walking.

"Don't trust me enough to tell me that?"

"I've never told anyone in my life my surname. There are only 3 people in the world, alive, who know it, so don't take it personally."

Shepherd just shrugged. "Alright."

The general finally stopped.

He stood before a two story building. It looked exactly like what I thought it would look like. A roofless building in a dull shade of white, with paint cracking here and there. It looked very old, but its age hadn't robbed it of its sturdiness. It seemed very steady.

Shepherd turned the door knob and opened the door. He turned and beckoned me to follow him. I stepped into the building gingerly.

The living room was just like outside. White paint cracking on the walls too, but the walls seemed a little cleaner here compared to the outer side. There were photos here and there, framed, of the taskforce. I scanned them as I walked past them. Amongst all the men, there was a guy with a mohawk, a tall black guy who looked American, a young one with the fresh-out-of-selection face, and then a dude who was completely covered up by a pair of dark sunglasses and a skull mask. At first I thought it was his gear, but then when I realized that he was wearing that in every picture I figured it was more than that. I made a mental note to ask Shepherd about it.

And then my attention diverted to the last photo and the board next to it. The photo was of the entire taskforce. Red 'X's crossed out the faces of those I assumed were dead. There weren't that many.

Impressive.

A scrawny handwriting on the corner read 'TASK FORCE 141. DOOM ON YOU MR TANGO!' I found myself smiling. Turning, I faced the board next to it.

There were many many many pictures on this one, sticky notes almost everywhere, most of them asking one question. 'Where are you Makarov?'

Right there. In the middle of the board, he was. With a tape over his head labeled 'Makarov'.

Yeah like I didn't know that.

I turned back and looked at the living room. By this time, I had reached the back of it, and I hadn't even properly looked at the room.

There were a few couches that seemed a little worn out in front of a TV. A pool table stood behind it, right in the middle. I guessed they used it as some sort of a meeting table.

The two walls then became a bit narrower, 2 doors on each side. Two of the four doors, one on each side, were open. I took a quick peek into them as I passed.

One was a _complete_ mess. There were 8 bunk beds, 4 on each side. Clothes were practically everywhere; on the bed, on the floor or hanging on the bunk bed ladder.

The other one was a bit neater. There was one bed, a wardrobe and a desk which had papers neatly piled up on it. I guessed it was the office of one of the authoritative figures.

Shepherd went into the one beside it. I followed him in.

It was almost the same as the office, except for it was a bit better. There was a bathroom in the corner, a mirror on the wall and a few shelves.

"This room is technically mine, but I barely come here, and when I do, I don't stay over or anything so you can have it." General Shepherd explained.

"Oh. Ok." I responded, putting down my duffel bag on my bed, and left my rolling suitcase parallel to the bed frame. The both of us then exited the room.

My eyes wandered over the rest of the dorm. After the living room, and the other rooms, the dorm was split into two by a partition in the middle. One side was a kitchen, and the other seemed to be the main bathroom for everybody else. There was no main door, but there were closed cubicles and basins inside.

"Like I told you, they went on a mission, so that's why this place is empty and pin-drop silent. They're on their way back. They should be here in…" Shepherd consulted his watch. "An hour or so. Do me a favor, and tell them I want to meet them in the rec room once they've landed. I'll leave you to yourself now. You're free to go wherever you want as long as you remain in the base, and try not to get lost." I chuckled and said goodbye as he left.

The door shut. I pulled out my phone and was surprised when I realized there was signal. And then I noticed 20 plus messages, all from Emily. I unlocked my phone and began scanning through them.

_Tracy from next door said she saw some guys in suits kidnap you! What's going on?_

_Should I type in a coded language? Is that why you're not replying?_

_A USF'L LJSUC QGM, QGMJ YHK AK GXX. OZWJW SJW QGM?_

_Are you safe?_

_Oh my God is it your brother?! Do I need to call the cops?!_

I quickly typed a reply. _A-OK. I know this is gonna be weird, but I kinda just joined a taskforce. TF-141. Won't be coming home for a long time. Sorry :(_

I just stood there wondering what I should do, before deciding on unpacking until the boys arrive.

* * *

><p>"…you know something Cap? For a second I really thought the bastard was gonna get away! And then you're like 'No he's not' and just flew out of a window…dude that was some serious shit!" Toad exclaimed. Everyone laughed.<p>

"You know, I still can't believe we got out of there alive." Royce says, shaking his head. "Couldn'ta done it without yah Nikolai, got us outta there at the right time." Meat said to Nikolai.

"Just doing my job." Nikolai replied in a thick Russian accent. Worm pats my shoulder. "Have to say it Roachie, you were amazing in that last 30 seconds!" Everyone agrees. I start going red a bit.

"Look at him! He's blushing!" Meat yells. Huh. Trust Meat to point out something like that, and you won't be disappointed.

The guys start laughing, as I glare at Meat. We finally reach the dorm. Toad opens the door, and we start filling in after him. We've barely stepped in when Toad says "Stop!"

We halt. "What is it?" Ghost asks as Toad pulls out his pistol, staring at the pool table.

"I was the last person to leave, and I know for sure that the balls were all racked up in the triangle when we left. And now they're everywhere. Someone's been in here."

As if on cue, all of us pull out our side arms. "Check the rooms first. Divide up equally and move." MacTavish orders, whispering. My heart was racing. The one place I thought I could be safe in had been breached.

We were about to move when the door to the General's room opened. My breath was caught in my throat as someone stepped out.

It was a girl.

Her green eyes spotted us and she stopped in her tracks. She was startled, but then she threw a smile at us. "Hey! Don't shoot!" She said, her voice soft and silky, carrying the slightest trace of a British accent.

We lowered our guns (except for MacTavish and Ghost), and I could tell the same question was running through all of our minds. MacTavish spat it out.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Sofia."

Sofia walked up to the pool table, and picked up the cue stick. She leaned forward, tucking her blonde hair behind her ear as she aimed. One strike.

The red ball slowly rolls towards the pocket. It drops inside. Half the battle's won. Now we watch as the white ball rolls in the direction of the same pocket. It stops right before it falls in. Sighing in relief, Sofia gets up and moves to the other side.

"Well alright Sofia, what the hell are you doing here? This is the base of a covert taskforce; you need to leave. Now." Ghost orders.

Sofia casually leaned over the table just like she did before. Her legs were positioned at arm's length. As she aimed, she responded.

"I thought this place was for the 141?"

"It is." Ghost replied.

"Then this is where I'm supposed to be."

Silence hung over us as we tried to decipher what she meant. I figured it out, just as she pocketed another ball.

"You're in the 141? Like, a new recruit?"

Sofia continued playing. "I'll answer that later. Now go to Shepherd. He's waiting for you in the rec room…wherever hell that is."

"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what you're doing here." MacTavish was persistent.

"Tsk tsk boys. Hasn't anyone ever taught you to not keep your general waiting?"

MacTavish considered that. Finally he replied. "Fine. But I'm not done with you yet. Don't you dare go anywhere."

"Oh I'm not leaving this place." Sofia said tauntingly, looking up. Her words only seemed to piss MacTavish off. Gritting his teeth, he turned to leave the dorm and we followed him, still perplexed as to what a 5' 8", blonde and already annoying teenage girl was bloody doing in our barracks.

* * *

><p>"Gentlemen. How was your—?"<p>

"Who the hell is that Sofia girl and what is she doing in our barracks?" MacTavish questioned.

Shepherd took a short pause. "I'll talk about her later. Now, what happened in the mission? Did Rojas talk?"

MacTavish clearly wasn't impressed by how casual Shepherd dealt with the Sofia issue, but he complied.

"Yeah he did. Apparently Makarov's worst enemy happens to be a Prisoner 627 who's locked up in a Russian gulag."

"If we want to get to Makarov, we're going to have to get this guy first." Ghost stated.

I turned to the General. He was frowning. "Do we know where this gulag is?"

"No sir…we're going to have to find every Prisoner 627 in every gulag and then mark out the one that's had had a history with Makarov." Ghost explained.

To my surprise, General Shepherd smiled. "You men have done a good job; you deserve a break. I'll get someone else on this. Just wait a while." He said, and then called someone on his phone. He spoke a few quick words, and hung up.

About a minute later, there was a knock on the door. "Come in." Shepherd orders. The door opened a little and Sofia slid in. Almost all the guys turn to MacTavish, who was watching the exchange between Sofia and Shepherd intently.

"You called?"

"We've got some intel."

"…and?"

"It's quite…_cryptic_, and we need you to decrypt it."

"Alright, I'm listening." Sofia said, putting her phone down on the table. Her hands begin to subconsciously play with it, turning it around in 360s over and over again, as she focused on Shepherd's words.

"We're looking for a Prisoner 627 who's locked up in a Russian gulag with some run-ins with Makarov. Find all the Prisoner 627s who are presently in gulags and see if they have any ties with Makarov. We need to find out where this bastard is."

Sofia bit her lip, frowning. She was thinking hard. "So you want me to find out where Prisoner 627 is imprisoned?"

"Yes. Can you?" Shepherd asked.

"He's locked up in a gulag 40 miles east of Petropavlovsk."

Everyone, even Shepherd, just stared at her. I couldn't believe what I heard. How the hell did she just figure that out like that?

"Are you telling me you just read that off the top of your head?" Shepherd was still shocked.

Sofia grinned. I could've sworn Meat was already drooling. "There are many Russian gulags, but most of them only hold up 100 to 200 people. If his number is 627, that means he's definitely staying in a gulag that goes above the 600 series. And the only gulag that big is the one I just told you about."

Shepherd nodded, impressed. "Smart. What do I need to know about the place?"

"Started out as a castle with an actual dungeon. Built to withstand any siege. Building survived every brutal winter. The occupants...well they weren't so lucky. The Monastery didn't survive the purges. Over the last century it's played host to anyone the government didn't want, but couldn't kill. Place is filled with living casualties of the last war... which I swear I thought you'd won. But I suppose it's all a day at the races: you back the losing horse, and this is where you end up."

"5 towers around the gulag. Snipers will be up there so be careful and take them out first. There should be a control room inside; you can use it to locate the prisoner." Sofia closed her eyes, trying to remember something. "I _think_ there's an armory somewhere there, you can stock up if you want to. Other than that I don't know much." She opened her eyes. "I haven't really been inside you see."

"It's alright. That's good enough." Shepherd said to her. Then he turned to us. "We can't get to 627 yet, though. Russians have a SAM site in the way, and we need to take it out first. I'll brief you when I get more on it. Good day men." He moved to leave, but MacTavish stood up and interrupted him.

"Sir…"

"Yes MacTavish?"

MacTavish jerked his head towards Sofia, who was standing behind Shepherd. The General turned, saw her, and then swiveled around again. He seemed amused.

"You have a problem with her?"

"No…not really…I mean— we don't know—"

"Good. Cause she's 141's FNG, but in this case, 'Fucking New Girl'. She'll be gathering intel for us."

And just like that, he said bye to Sofia and left.

All of us just stood there and stared at her.

A new girl…?

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><p><strong>So there you go! Second chapter done :)<strong>


	3. Watch and Learn, Roach

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for Sofia!**

**A/N: SORRY! I haven't been able to write because it's almost the end of my first school term, so naturally the teachers are loading us with homework and graded tests/assignments. I'll try to update as fast as I can from now on :)**

**Hey people! This is my first story so I'd appreciate if you could R&R! Criticism is okay as long as it isn't rude!**

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><p><strong>Sofia's POV<strong>

Sunlight hit every nook and cranny in my room. I slowly stirred. It was morning already? I felt like I'd just closed my eyes! I flipped over so that I was lying on my back and stared at the ceiling. Last night's memories slowly started coming back.

_Not knowing what to do, I exited the rec room and started heading towards the dorm. I could hear the guys leaving the rec room too, but they were walking in the opposite direction. Maybe they had drills or something._

_I almost reached the door when I heard someone yell out my name. I swiveled around._

"_Sofia!" It was the tall American dude. He jogged up to me. "Yeah?" I asked. "You wanna have dinner with us? We'll show you the way to the mess."_

_I hadn't eaten, and I was feeling hungry, so I agreed and followed him to where the rest of 141 was waiting for us._

_We all started walking towards where I supposed the mess was. There was an awkward silence hanging in the air until the American guy decided to break it._

"_I brought her over so that we can talk to her! Not keep our mouths shut and walk!"_

"_Well Meat, unlike you, some of us aren't desperately trying to sleep with her." The brown haired guy with the innocent face said. Everyone broke out into laughter, even me._

_Meat glared at him. "Okay, how about we introduce ourselves to you?" He suggested. I barely knew any of their names, and honestly I wasn't really glad with the idea of calling them Guy 1, Guy 2, Guy 3 and so on, so I agreed._

"_I'm Meat. This is Toad, Neon, Roach, Ghost, Captain MacTavish, Scarecrow, Archer, Royce, Nikolai, Chemo, Worm, Ozone, Rook and Rocket!"_

_I was most probably going to get mixed up with a few of their names, but I knew I'd get used to it._

_We strolled into the mess and sat down. I was in between Meat and Roach. As we slowly started to eat our meal, Meat opened up his mouth again,_

_"So uh…__where are you from?"_

"_Edinburgh. But I was born in Russia."_

_At that the man called Nikolai perked up._

"_So you're Russian?_

"_No I'm Jamaican, Meat." I said, sarcastic. The guys laughed. Meat just rolled his eyes and continued._

"_How old are you?"_

"_Just turned 24."_

"_Your father?"_

"_Buried him 12 years ago."_

"_Oh…what about your mother?"_

"_14 years ago."_

_Meat sighed. "That must suck." "Yeah it does." I agreed with him. Meat then continued inquiring about me, but left my past out of it. Before I knew it, the rest of the guys were popping in, asking questions too. Finally Meat asked one question that got everyone choking on their food._

"_Virgin or not?"_

_I nearly spat out my food. "What?" I gasped. He chuckled, and repeated his question. The rest of the guys were swearing at him, telling him that I was only 20-ish and that I couldn't be asked that, but they were smiling too. Meat ignored them and stared at me._

_I swallowed. "Errr…oh god." I put my head in my hands. "No."_

_Meat erupted into a loud hoot, and the other people at the table started roaring with laughter. "Shut up!" I said to them smiling slightly, but they continued laughing. I turned to Roach, the only person who wasn't giggling at me._

"_How come you're not laughing at me?" I inquired._

_He smiled. "Because I got asked the same question when I joined…and I gave the same answer, so I know what it's like."_

_We both chuckled._

_After that, we slowly walked back to the dorm. Meat bid me a goodnight, as I closed my door._

Shaking my head, I got up. I saw the clock hanging on the wall. It showed the time as 0110. I stared at it, confused. And then I noticed the second hand wasn't moving at all.

Sighing, I picked up my phone. It was 0900.

Wow.

I'd slept for nearly 10 and a half hours. Quickly rushing into my bathroom, I brushed, bathed, and changed into a sleeved tank top and a pair of shorts. I then decided that wearing shorts _probably _wasn't proper uniform to be wearing around in an army base so I changed into pants instead. I combed my hair into a ponytail and wore my sneakers. My eyes fell on an old ring on the table next to my bed. I remembered tossing it there before I went to sleep. I put it on and stared at the Spetsnaz insignia before sighing to myself.

I exited my room, and closed the door when I saw something on it. It was a note.

I leaned in to read what was on it. It was in a cursive handwriting, and was so very neat, and so very straight.

'When you wake up, get your arse over to the shooting range. –Ghost'

For some reason, just reading his name sent a shiver down my spine.

I'd been around men all my life. So I wasn't intimidated by them or anything. But the thing was, I'd never been around anyone who wore a skull mask, and it was creepy. For the first time in my life, I was actually scared of someone because of their appearance. Last night I had spoken to him confidently. Because I wasn't looking at him. But if I had been, I swear to God my legs would've turned to jelly and I'd have fainted or something. Because adding his scary face to his scary tone was something I was definitely sure I wouldn't be able to handle.

Pushing those thoughts out of my head, I left the building, and started walking towards the shooting range, following signboards on the way.

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><p>I ended up opposite the gun range about 15 minutes later. Glad that I hadn't gone missing on my first day, I walked towards the 141 soldiers, who were standing together, all watching someone shooting. As I reached them, I realized it was Roach.<p>

"Hey sleeping beauty." Meat greeted me, a smug smirk on his face. The other soldiers noticed me and smiled slightly before turning back to watching Roach. Captain MacTavish nodded at me. I returned the smiles and nod, and then nudged Meat's shoulder. "Shut up. I was jetlagged." I retorted. Then I asked him. "What's Roach doing?"

"Sniping?" Meat raised one of his eyebrows at me as he said that. "I know that! I'm just saying…he's spraying bullets all over the place…and he's barely hitting the targets." At this Meat got defensive. "It's hard to shoot. And he's doing long distance. That's not easy." "Yes it is…" I replied, my voice trailing away as I jogged up to where Roach was firing.

"Hey Roach." I said. Roach was startled, and fired a few shots accidentally. I chuckled. He turned to me. "You freaked me out, girl." He turned back to the sniper rifle in his hand and emptied a magazine on human - shaped targets inside. 6 of the 10 targets went down. Roach swore under his breath as he reloaded.

"You're making quite a number of mistakes, you know?" I said to him. Before he could do anything, I snatched the rifle from him, and butted into the place where the shooter was supposed to stand. "Woah woah! Hold on— you can't just take a rifle like that— that's dangerous and— and we're not allowed to pass our guns to people who don't know how to shoot—"

I ignored him. "Watch, and learn Roach."

10 targets popped up again. I smoothly took them all out, three bullets per target, all of my shots head shots.

I turned on safety. Roach was staring at me, his mouth in a huge 'O'. "How the— that was— I didn't— have you ever—?"

"Listen," I said, "It's pretty easy. C'mere." I gave him the gun back. He took the shooter's position, and turned safety off. I stood behind him, and instructed him.

"Firstly, tilt your head so the eye closest to the gun is looking straight down the top of the barrel." Roach did as I told him to. "Good. Now hold the barrel area with your 'off' hand. Hold it close to the magazine for a more accurate shot. Yeah, just like that. Remember to tuck in your elbows. Elbows pointing out can throw off your aim once the trigger is pulled. If you keep your elbow tucked in it helps you steady the rifle. It also keeps your upper arm muscles from wearing out faster and this is especially important when you're with longer rifles. Yes, you've got it. Oh, and one more thing. After you have fired, keep the rifle still for a couple of seconds or so." Roach nodded slightly. "Alright then." I moved back to the other guys. Meat opened his mouth but I held my hand up."Go weapons free in three…two…one!" I shouted.

20 targets popped up this time. Roach efficiently took all of them down, following my instructions and tips.

When he finished, he turned on safety, left the gun on the table, and walked over to me.

"I didn't know you knew how to shoot." Roach said. Meat agreed with him.

"My father was a Spetsnaz commander. Vympel unit. He taught me everything he knew, which was a lot, by the way. Some, I was very good at. Others, I couldn't even keep up with the basics. Shooting was my flair. My father's, too."

"Wow…that's pretty cool…so you're like Spetsnaz?" Royce asked. "Haha, I wish, but no. I probably couldn't last a day there." I corrected him, smiling.

The 141 guys laughed, just as a man ran up to Captain MacTavish.

"Captain! General Shepherd's on the phone. He wants to speak with you."

"Alright. Ghost, take over training." He ordered, and left after the man.

I watched them become smaller and smaller until they vanish.

* * *

><p><strong>MacTavish's POV<strong>

I put on the headphones.

"MacTavish here, sir."

On the screen, the satellite traced an individual known as Prisoner #627 incarcerated in a Russian Gulag near Petropavlovsk, Russia.

"Prisoner Six-Two-Seven. From the intel you've got from Rojas, we believe that's who Makarov's got the mad-on for. But we can't get to him."

The satellite detected four oil rigs off the Russian east coast and locates the eastern most rig, analyzing SAM sites all around the rig and oil workers held hostage by the Russians.

"Oilrigs, sir?" I asked.

"Russians are using them as SAM sites. Oil workers are human shields so we can't just blow up the rigs wholesale. And this one is the least defended. I know I'm sending you and your men into the meat grinder in this one..."

"They're defending it, so it means we want it. Especially if it gets us to Six-Two-Seven." I replied.

"Alright then. Get your men ready. You'll be leaving in an hour. And how's Sofia doing?"

"Apparently she's been trained to be a Spetsnaz operative, sir. Her father seems to have been a commander there, in the Vympel unit."

"Really? Did you put her through drills? She any good?"

"I saw her shoot today, sir. Sniping."

"How is she?"

"For her age, pretty good, sir. Didn't miss a single shot; and all were execution style. I'm sure she's giving Archer and Toad competition." I chuckled.

"Well, in that case, take her along with you to the SAM sites. I want to know if she's any good in a mission. She may be a good shooter in a gun range; doesn't mean she'll do just as well in a battlefield."

I understood what Shepherd said. It's easy to shoot in a range. It's quiet, the targets don't shoot back, and you don't have grenades blowing up every second. But out there, everything's different. You're not firing to look good in front of your officers– you're firing to save your life.

And buckling under that pressure is very very easy.

"Yes sir. I'll give you a full report on how she did when we finish the mission."

"Roger. Shepherd out."

The line went dead as I put the headphones down.

I exited the building and walked back to the gun range. The guys were watching Meat and Sofia, who seemed to be in the midst of a competition on who could shoot down more targets.

The last of Sofia's targets went down. The boys started laughing at Meat. Meat seemed to be reluctantly pulling out money from his wallet and paying both Sofia and Roach.

Of course. If there was a bet going around in the 141, there was no doubt as to who had instigated it. Roach.

Ghost was the first to see me. I nodded at him, a firm expression on my face. He knew what it meant.

"Alright gather back, men. We've got a mission."


	4. Under The Sea

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for Sofia!**

****Author Note: I am so sorry I haven't updated this in, like, a month! It's because I'm boarding (aka staying in a hostel of sorts) which is a part of my school's programme. Thing is there's no internet connection there, and my parents don't let me bring my laptop to school so I can't really do anything. Sorry :)****

**Hey people! This is my first story so I'd appreciate if you could R&R! Criticism is okay as long as it isn't rude!**

"In position, on your go." MacTavish's voice crackled from my earpiece. I watched Roach slowly swim up, breaking into the surface.

I repositioned myself so that I wasn't either under him or on his right. In a few seconds, Roach sunk back into the water, this time with a struggling Ultranationalist by his side.

Of course, he wasn't going to be struggling any longer.

Roach deftly slit the guard's neck, and let go of him. The guard sank with dark red blood in swirls mixed with the surrounding water as he went deeper and deeper into the dark ocean.

"Two hostiles down in section One-Alpha. Moving up to section Two." MacTavish reported.

"Roger that, Hotel Six." The Sub Commander replied.

I swam up, and pulled myself onto the platform. I turned back and helped Roach up. We both started to quickly and quietly remove all our underwater gear. Then, we moved up to Deck One.

"Keep it tight people. Ready weapons. Move up." MacTavish gave orders, his voice a harsh whisper.

We took a few steps, before Ghost halted, holding his right hand up in a fist. Roach and I both stopped behind him. I saw what he'd seen to make him stop. "Got a visual by the railing."

"Free to engage. Suppressed weapons only."

Roach turned to me. "He's yours." I whispered. He nodded, and took the shot. The guard fell into the sea. "We're clear." Ghost reports.

The Sub Commander informed us. "Civilian hostages at your position, watch your fire."

"Roger that, Team One moving to breach."

MacTavish, Ghost, Roach and I took our positions by the door. "Watch your fire." Ghost reminded us. Roach nodded. For some reason, I felt like that was targeted at me.

Obviously, Ghost didn't want me on the mission. He didn't have to say it – it was pretty clear. He regarded me as a newbie and all. I hoped he'd change his mind after this mission. I hoped I'd be able to prove him my worth.

"Ready?" MacTavish asked. This was it. My skin was prickling with excitement. I gripped my rifle. It had been a long time since I'd killed someone. I know that sounded sick, but when you know you're doing it for the right reason, you kinda get over the icky part of it. Besides, it's nearly impossible to find a Spetsnaz operative who hesitated to kill.

I nodded. "Roach," I said to him. "Breaching charge."

He planted the charge on the door.

A loud explosion shook the ground. Debris flew past me. Bits and pieces of sharp jagged concrete spewed out in all directions.

But there was no time to worry about debris. I immediately got into position, taking out two of the guards. I was about to move onto a third on the other side of the room, but then I saw a flurry of movement next to Roach.

I turned just in time to see a man attempting to bring a rifle down on Roach. The young sergeant hadn't seen him. Without aiming down the sights, I fired six shots in succession. They hit him all over the chest. As he staggered back, I took aim and fired a single shot through his brain.

He clattered to the floor in a mess.

Someone let out a low whistle.

"Nice one, lassie." MacTavish smirked. I smiled thinly. Ghost was looking at me too, but thanks to his balaclava, I couldn't see his expression. Great. I'll never know what he's thinking about me.

As we moved up to Deck Two, I kept complaining inside my head. It wasn't fair that he got to wear a balaclava all the time. The younger recruits, i.e. everyone under the captain and Ghost (including me), were not allowed to wear any type of facial garment(s) that covered up our faces. It was just a we-want-to-know-who-you-are-if-you-do-something-wrong measure. Stupid.

I focused back on the mission as the sub commander's voice came through the intercom.

"Enemy helo patrolling the perimeter. Keep a low profile, Hotel Six."

MacTavish said "Roger that" just a few seconds before we heard the low chugging of helicopter blades.

"Enemy helo! Get out of sight!" Ghost said, falling behind some boxes for cover. I did as he said.

The sound of the helicopter started to get softer and softer as it flew away. We waited until all that was left to hear was the whirring of the fans on the deck.

"Alright, move." MacTavish ordered.

We reached another room. The sub commander came in again.

"Hotel Six, more hostages are at your position."

"Copy that"

We split up. Roach and I took the door on the side. He planted the charge.

"Ready when you are, Roach." I heard Ghost say through the intercom. Roach locked eye contact with me. His hazel eyes seemed dark in the lack of light. I smiled, and he repeated the simple gesture.

It was the same as before. The door blew up with a loud and fast bang, wood splinters bursting out. We stormed in, taking out all the guards.

"Clear." Ghost said to MacTavish. MacTavish nodded, and relayed that to the sub commander.

"Clear. Control – all Deck Two hostages secured."

Russian words were suddenly heard from the guards' radios. They transmitted the same orders at the same time, so the transmission seemed to echo.

"Группа 5, приём. Ответьте Базе. Вань, ты там? Ответь Базе! Высылаем группу вниз."

"What was that supposed to mean?" Roach asked, speaking for the first time since we began the mission.

"All we need to know is that they're sending a group down. We need to move!" I said anxiously, and began to turn towards the door Roach'd just blasted.

"No, we won't be able to get out of here in time. Besides, there's most probably too many of them." Captain MacTavish said. He paused for a while, thinking, and then issued out orders. "Set up Plan B. Get some C4 on those bodies, go."

Ghost and Roach planted one each. "Get to an elevated position. We'll ambush them when they discover the bodies."

We ran outside, and scaled the ladders onto the scaffolding. I quietly crouched down.

A few men in cream-coloured full body suits walked into my sights. "There's the patrol. Hold your fire until they're closer. Standby... Standby..." the captain ordered.

I watched as the patrol entered the room. Within seconds, their radio exploded with loud chatter.

Roach turned to MacTavish. "Plan B. Do it."

A loud explosion succeeded his words. Flames engulfed the room and all the men surrounding it. Anyone who was in close range of the C4 was in a bloody mess.

Ghost, Roach, MacTavish and I jumped down, engaging those who were still alive, and those who were now on their way to where we were.

"Control, this is Hotel Six. Our cover is blown."

The sub commander replied to MacTavish, but I couldn't hear exactly what he'd said. Thankfully, MacTavish relayed what the commander had told him to us.

"CentCom needs us to take the top deck ASAP so they can send in the Marines. Move."

Turning to one of the boxes lying around, I switched my weapon for an MG4. I locked and loaded it.

A bullet whizzed past my ear. Needing no more invitations, I started to open fire at the Ultranationalists. Before I knew it, we cleared the deck.

I followed MacTavish as he went up a stairway. "Hotel Six, hostages from the lower decks are being extracted by Team 2. Proceed to the top deck ASAP to secure the rest, over."

"Copy that, we're working on it. Out." MacTavish sounded frustrated. Well, so would I if I was being bossed around by some asshole who was just sitting his ass down in a pretty little office, not having to worry about the fact that one wrong move, one second of hesitation, could mean certain death.

As we reached the top, more hostiles appeared. I was in the midst of a firefight against them when I heard something that made my heart skip a beat or two.

"Enemy helo! Take cover! Take cover!" Ghost yelled. I turned around and saw it, just as its guns started to spin. I said something my mother definitely wouldn't have wanted to hear me say.

I felt something whoosh past me.

The Little Bird was hit. It started spinning, and crashed into the sea, rocking the SAM site a little. I turned.

Roach lowered his AT4. His face was taut, and his jaws were set.

"That helo is history. Nice shot." Ghost's voice came in through our radios. I smiled at Roach. He smiled back.

That little moment was gone as fast as it came. The sound of gunfire was just the catalyst Roach and I needed to continue moving.

We took out all the men who rushed at us. It was as if there had been and unspoken agreement or deal between us. I was doing more of the shooting and less of the where-are-we-going thing. Roach did vice versa. He stood beside me, and wherever he went, I followed him. I wasn't that good with anything to do with directions. I couldn't possibly even read the kinda maps they gave out at zoos.

"Split up. We can flank through these hallways." MacTavish went up the stairs, while Ghost went down. I grimaced. That meant Roach and I'd have to split up too.

I didn't feel anything for him. He was just someone I worked really well with. I made a mental note to inform MacTavish about that.

Roach nodded at me, before taking off after Ghost. I went up with MacTavish.

"Move up. Let's go! Those hostages aren't going to rescue themselves." I chuckled at the slight humour.

At the top, more enemies appeared. But they were smarter than the others.

"They're popping smoke!" Ghost alerted.

"These guys have thermal optics; stay clear of the smoke." MacTavish advised. I pulled out my secondary weapon. Captain MacTavish and I managed to regroup with Ghost and Roach, and the four of us engaged the enemy in a thermal scope shootout.

"Hotel Six, be advised, hostages have been confirmed at your location along with possible explosives, over."

"Copy that. All teams check your fire - we don't know what's behind these doors."

We eliminated the foot-mobiles and pushed through the smoke. A few minutes later, we finally reached the room.

"Get a charge on the door. We'll breach from both sides." MacTavish ordered.

Ghost and Roach were taking the other side. MacTavish planted the charge. I breathed out white mist. A strand of blonde hair fell before my eyes. I tucked it back.

This was it.

The ground shook as the door went flying over my head. Captain MacTavish stormed the room and I followed him in. One man rushed at me, a tactical knife in his hand.

Letting my rifle sling back from my shoulder straps, I freed my hands and grabbed his wrist with one. I deftly twisted it, and it clattered to the floor. With my free hand, I found his neck and once I'd pushed him up a wall, proceeded to choke him. His life ended not long after.

I let him go and his body sagged down to the ground. My fingers were still twitching from the little bit of real life hand-to-hand combat I'd done. I reached for my rifle just as I heard the clink of a metal object and the war cry of a man.

Time seemed to slow down. The grenade hit the wall on my left side and rolled to a stop about a few feet away from my legs. I made a split second decision to kick it away. It went under the metal railings and shelves that were about 30 feet away from me.

I didn't have enough time to run.

A loud blast shook the ground beneath me. I heard some people yelling. The shelves exploded and shrapnel flew everywhere.

The last thing I saw was a large chunk of what used to be a shelf rack flying straight at me.


	5. Pay The Price

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for Sofia!**

**Author Note: My boarding programme just ended (Hooray!) so I can continue posting stories! This one is quite short...and yeah I'll admit it is quite rushed...so I'm apologizing in advance :(**

**Hey people! This is my first story so I'd appreciate if you could R&R! Criticism is okay as long as it isn't rude!**

"Argh…what the hell happened?" I murmured, my vision slowly clearing up. I looked around.

The whole place was so white, for a second I thought I'd died and was in heaven or something. Then I saw the familiar metal instruments. Scalpels, retractors, forceps, clamps, etc. There was an ECG (Electrocardiography) – a heart rate monitor – on a table next to me. It showed a rate of 70 bpm. It took me a while to realize it was connected to me.

Slowly, I remembered the last few things that happened before I'd blacked out.

_The ground shook as the door went flying over my head. Captain MacTavish stormed the room and I followed him in. One man rushed at me, a tactical knife in his hand._

_Letting my rifle sling back from my shoulder straps, I freed my hands and grabbed his wrist with one. I deftly twisted it, and it clattered to the floor. With my free hand, I found his neck and once I'd pushed him up a wall, proceeded to choke him. His life ended not long after._

_I let him go and his body sagged down to the ground. My fingers were still twitching from the little bit of real life hand-to-hand combat I'd done. I reached for my rifle just as I heard the clink of a metal object and the war cry of a man._

_Time seemed to slow down. The grenade hit the wall on my left side and rolled to a stop about a few feet away from my legs. I made a split second decision to kick it away. It went under the metal railings and shelves that were about 30 feet away from me._

_I didn't have enough time to run._

_A loud blast shook the ground beneath me. I heard some people yelling. The shelves exploded and shrapnel flew everywhere._

_The last thing I saw was a large chunk of what used to be a shelf rack flying straight at me._

I touched the impact point, which was on the right side of my forehead. My fingers felt a slight bump, and as I pressed it, I winced. I reached for the clipboard next to the ECG and scanned through it. Apparently I had suffered a concussion and minor internal bleeding. I checked the date on the medical report, and compared it to the date on the clock hanging on the infirmary's wall. I had been in there for about a day.

The door opened. I turned.

"Ow…ow…OW! Ghost! I'm fine! I'm fine! I said I'm fucking fineeeeeeeee! OW!" Roach squealed as Ghost walked side by side with him into the infirmary, with Captain MacTavish trailing behind. I looked closer and saw that Ghost was holding an ice pack quite firmly – maybe a _bit_ too firmly – to Roach's head.

"Wow…what happened to you?" I asked, my throat feeling quite dry. All three men turned to look at me. Clearly they hadn't been expecting me to be awake.

"Roach got hit in the face by an old man yielding a rifle, didn't you kiddo?" Ghost seemed to be enjoying Roach's pain. Roach just glared at him, and then turned to me.

"He's a bloody SAS Captain…like 'Tavish…" and then suddenly he grinned at Ghost. "or should I say _Soap_?"

Both the lieutenant and the sergeant collapsed into a fit of laughter at that. Captain MacTavish just rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah whatever lads…laugh all you want."

"I don't understand…what?"

"My callsign when I was with the SAS was Soap…and these boys just figured it out…all thanks to Price."

"Price? Who's Price?"

Captain MacTavish opened his mouth to answer me, but then at that moment the door opened, and a man walked in.

"I am."

He seemed to be in his forties or fifties, with a beard and moustache decorating his face. His grey eyes seemed translucent. A boonie hat was on his head, covering most of his greys but not all, and he was dressed in a casual shirt and pants. Nevertheless, he radiated authority.

"I'm sorry, but I have absolutely no idea of who you are…and I've never heard of the name Price…"

"I'm 627."

What the hell? I immediately jumped out of my bed. Roach moved forward to support me, but I waved him off. I was fine.

"You're 627?" I turned to Captain MacTavish. "We found 627?"

"Aye lassie." Captain MacTavish informed me about how they'd pulled me out of the SAM site, and loaded me onto another helicopter, which dropped me back at the base while they took another one which took them to the gulag.

"Oh…and all of that happened in one day?"

"More or less." Roach answered. I nodded.

"So, Mr Price –"

"Captain Price." Price and MacTavish corrected me in unison, then turned to look at each other, before turning back to me. Captain Price seemed to be smiling slightly.

"Wait – so you're the SAS Captain who shoved his rifle in Roach's face?"

"I'll have to take credit for that, yes."

I gave Captain Price an once-over, and then flipped to face Roach.

"You need to brush up your hand-to-hand."

"My hand to hand is fine. He's just good. You try beating him and you'll see." Roach replied, huffy.

"I'll kill the old man. We don't want that." I said to Roach in a low voice, grinning.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Captain Price asked.

"Nothing." I smiled.

"Well I'm pretty sure you said _something_ about killing me."

"I didn't say anything." But the smile on my face told him the truth.

"Of course." Captain Price stared deep into my eyes. "Let's go, shall we?"

He turned to leave the infirmary. I looked at Roach with a 'see–I–scared–the–old–man' look on my face. He was going to say something, before his eyes suddenly widened and looked over my shoulders.

I saw a blur of movement, and before I knew it, my hands were pinned behind my back, I was kneeling down, and my head was about an inch from the mattress. I breathed heavily.

"Next time; think first." Captain Price advised, and then released my arms. I got up, my face red.

"Yes sir." I mumbled, rubbing my wrists where he'd held them. My dignity went down the drain.

Captain Price just smirked and left. Captain MacTavish turned to me.

"Rule number one with Price; never underestimate him. He may be old, but he's still got the skill…and besides, he's the reason why Imran Zakhaev lost an arm."

My jaw almost dropped. "That was Price?"

Captain MacTavish nodded.

"Woah…guess I'll stay away from him then…" I muttered.

**So...? How was it? Review please!**


	6. Royally Screwed

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for Sofia!  
><strong>

**Author Note: This happens about a month after the last chapter :) And I know that Makarov is like 46-ish in MW3, and that'll make the age diff between him and Sofia nearly 30 years, so I'm changing things. He's going to be 36 years old in this part (MW2). So the age diff between him and Sofia will be about 12 years instead, and that's more believable. If you don't like it, then don't read it :)  
>Hey people! This is my first story so I'd appreciate if you could R&amp;R! Criticism is okay as long as it isn't rude!<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>MacTavish's POV<strong>

General Shepherd cleared his throat. "We've got a location on Makarov."

Price's head snapped up. He turned to me, and then looked at Shepherd. "And we're not on a chopper yet because?"

Shepherd threw a glare in Price's direction.

It hadn't taken a genius to figure out that these two men hated each other. From the time Price landed in the base, Shepherd seemed to dislike him. And Price returned that emotion.

"You're not on a chopper yet because it's not safe." Then he turned to me. "Makarov's bringing together his council for a meeting. Cover story's a charity ball. Intel says the actual ballroom will be crawling with security - inside out. We need to send someone in undercover to get close and capture him. Any suggestions?"

I pondered about it. Of course I had suggestions. Lots of 'em. But I didn't want to send any of my men on a mission that dangerous without backup.

"Sofia?" Price suggested. Shepherd turned to him. Price continued. "She's a woman. She's Russian. And she's a bit of a looker." He shrugged. "All you have to do is put her in a pretty little dress and she'll blend in."

"But she's a girl. She's gonna get killed!" I said. I had to admit, she'd grown on me. The way she was a fast learner, and never asked to be allowed to train lesser than the guys had to, it was quite amazing. And I didn't want her dead, nobody in base did. She kinda became our informal younger sister of some sorts.

Shepherd paused for a moment and then took middle ground. "You're both right; she'll blend in perfectly with the crowd, but she is a little young and inexperienced in these types of undercover work."

"She'll be fine when she goes up there. It'll come to her." Price said.

"Actually, that's what I'm worried about. That she'll freak out in front of Makarov. She's just a kid, and he's the world's greatest terrorist. She has to be terrified of him!"

"Then how about this: we don't tell her it's Makarov. We'll just say it's a man called codename Kingfish."

"She'll find out from the other guys."

"Then let them all know about this plan." When Price and I didn't say anything, he bid us both a good day, took his exit.

I sighed. I didn't like this. Not at all.

"She'll be fine." Price assured.

"And how do you know that?"

He stared at me.

"Cause you trained her, and I know you."

* * *

><p><strong>Sofia's POV<strong>

"So tell me again how am I going to know this 'Kingfish' guy when I see him?" I asked into my earpiece as I adjusted it.

"We'll tell you when he's near. Now just go in and act all 'pretty-pretty' with the guests." Captain MacTavish said through my earpiece.

I laughed lightly and said "That I can do." as I walked towards the ballroom entrance.

The hem of my long flowing green dress brushed against my feet, which were strapped in silver heels, with every step I took. The cold air touched my bare back, and I tried not to shiver.

Captain MacTavish shouldn't have let Meat pick my outfit.

I stepped up to the bodyguards guarding the entrance. They were two burly men, each in proper black suits. And both of them were holding a rifle across their torso. One of them held out his hand.

"Invitation?"

Smiling, but actually feeling very scared inside, I opened my silver clutch and took out a fake copy of the invitation letter General Shepherd had gotten made for me. I was careful to not show them the other thing I had in my clutch; a .44 Magnum.

As the guard took the invitation from me and scanned it, I tried not to show that I was freaking out inside. If this went wrong, that's it. I'd be seeing one of the bullets in the rifles flying straight for my forehead.

"Be calm." Captain MacTavish ordered through my earpiece. It was then that I realised I had been standing stiffly, my arms and legs rigid, and my fists clenched. I immediately loosened up, and remembered what Captain Price had told me.

"If you ever get nervous, just remember your identity. Remember who you're supposed to be, and do something that they'd do."

Who am I supposed to be? I am supposed to be Yelena Pudovkina, daughter of Andrei Pudovkin, a very benevolent philanthropist, who was passing on his reins to his daughter (aka me). I am here, to donate money by purchasing things that are on auction, to help save children in Ghana.

I smiled slightly. Price's plan did work. Onto part 2.

So what would Yelena Pudovkina do?

This question seemed harder to answer. I couldn't think of anything she'd do right now, except for wait.

Think like her, Sofia. What would a woman completely oblivious of a terrorist meeting going down in the middle of what she thinks is a charity event do?

The answer came to me when I heard someone standing behind me mutter to their companion: "Wonder why they're carrying weapons; its not like someone who wasn't invited is desperately trying to barge in..."

I said a silent thanks on my head to the man as I turned to face the guard who wasn't checking my invite.

"Why are you men carrying these humongous guns? Is something going on?"

"No ma'am, nothing like that. It's just that some of the items going on auction tonight are very expensive, so we're just here to safe guard them." He lied, smiling.

"I see." And as the other guard gave me my invitation letter back, relief flooded inside of me, but I didn't show it."Thank you!" I chirped, and entered the ballroom.

It was huge, and full of lively chatter. People walked past me everywhere, smiling and laughing with each other.

I put on a fake smile on my face, and went up to a group of them. I introduced myself, and we chatted about my 'father' for a while before talking about a charity project in Somalia. After a while, we dispersed and I found some other people. Same thing. Introduce myself, chat and disperse. Introduce myself, chat and disperse.

I was getting used to this routine when Captain MacTavish's voice broke through the piece in my ear.

"Codename Kingfish has noticed you. He's coming towards you, Sofia. He's walking right up to your back. Stay calm, and stay smiling." He advised.

I braced myself. It was kinda like you know your crush is walking up to you, so that he can turn you around and kiss you or something. I tried to tame the butterflies in my stomach.

I was anxious. I needed to capture this man. This very man, who was about to come to me-

I felt someone's hand(most likely his) on my shoulder. They turned me around.

How rude is this guy? I mean, you don't just turn someone, especially a woman around like that-

I looked straight into a pair of very familiar eyes; one blue, and one green.

My thoughts froze. My voice was stuck in my throat. I couldn't breathe.

"What on Earth are you doing here Sofia?"

* * *

><p><strong>So how was it? Nice? Bad? Love the cliffhanger? Hate it? TELL ME! REVIEW! Your reviews really make me wanna write more for you guys so yeah! :)<strong>


	7. Flashback, Fight, Fall

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for Sofia!**

**Author Note: I hope this is good! Your reviews really made me continue this story, so that's why I;m updating in a few days now :) One more thing, text that is in bold and is italicized means that it is being spoken in Russian. I thought that if two native Russian speakers were talking, chances are, they're talking in Russian, not English. But yeah, it's really no biggie :) OH, AND THERE'S QUITE A BIT OF SWEARING IN THIS ONE, SO IF IT OFFENDS YOU, I'M SORRY!**

**Hey people! This is my first story so I'd appreciate if you could R&R! Criticism is okay as long as it isn't rude!**

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><p>"What the hell? How does he know you, Sofia?"<p>

I ignored Captain MacTavish. My eyes were stuck on the man before me. His blue-green eyes (literally), his dark brown hair, his sharp features...I knew this man. I knew him so very well.

And it was this knowledge I had of him that caused me to start fearing for the outcome of this meeting between us. That caused me to start fearing for my life.

"Sofia! Answer me!" Vladimir ordered. I snapped out of my initial shock of seeing him. "I'm 24, for God's sake, Vladimir! I can be wherever I want to be!"

"This isn't about how old you are! You are not supposed to be here-"

"Talk to me, Sofia! I wanna know what the fucking hell is going on!" Captain MacTavish yelled into my earpiece. I flinched.

Probably shouldn't have done that in front of an ex-Spetsnaz soldier.

He wasn't stupid. He reached for my ear and pulled out the tiny little earpiece. Vladimir held it close to his own ear. I felt like fainting.

"Hello Captain MacTavish." There was a pause as he said something. Vladimir laughed. "How do I know her? She's my bloody little sister. Are you telling me she didn't tell you?" I closed my eyes. I was so fucking screwed.

"I see she hasn't. Well, don't worry about it. It's not like she's going to find her way back to you." He looked straight at me. "In fact, she won't be leaving this ballroom alive. Do me a favor and tell Captain Price I said hello. Goodbye." Vladimir threw the earpiece to the ground and stepped on it, crushing it.

"_**C'mon, let's go.**_" He ordered me.

"_**No**_" I replied, defiant.

He glared at me, and then grabbed my elbow. Pulling me close he whispered in my ear: "_**Try to run, or scream, and you'll be shot in an instant. Perhaps you already know that.**_", and then pulled away, but still didn't let go of my elbow. He propped it up against him in such a manner that it seemed like we were just old friends and he was showing me around and all.

I bit my lip and followed him as he headed towards the doors that were on the inside perimeter of the rectangular ballroom. Once in a while I peeked at him. His face was calm, but I knew what hid behind that poker face. I flashed back to the last time I'd seen him face to face…

"_**Where are you coming back from?**__" I questioned as he stepped into the living room. He took of his coat and hung it on the coat stand. Ignoring me, he dusted off his snow-covered shoes._

"_**Where are you coming back from?**__" I asked again, this time harsher. I may have only been 17, and he may have been 29, but I didn't care. Either way it had been a long time in which I became his 'mother' of some sorts._

_He paused what he was doing and replied. "__**You very well know where I came back from. Save your breath and stop asking me that stupid question every day when I step into this house. Feel like I'm being interrogated every time.**__" He spat._

"_**I just wanted to give you a taste of being interrogated, you know, since you missed your chance with the UN when you opted for a discharge from the Spetsnaz.**__"_

_He stopped where he was. I knew I had hit a nerve. Maybe a couple of nerves. And that's when I got scared. Would he just pull that gun he had strapped to his belt out of its holster, and put a bullet in me? But I'm his sister…right? He wouldn't kill me, right? Then again, if anyone insulted Imran Zakhaev to his face like that, he'd happily dump their body in the ocean or something. And Vladimir was becoming like him…_

_He swivelled around and walked straight up to my face. Literally. I could feel him breathing._

"_**Watch your words, you little filthy bitch.**__"_

"_**Oh, so I'm the filthy one now! Last time I checked, I didn't run off and join forces with the man who killed my parents!**__" I snapped._

"_**What proof do you have that Imran Zakhaev killed them?**__" Vladimir yelled at me. Glaring daggers at him, I said: "__**You wait.**__", and ran up to my room and retrieved a small old dusty box._

_I brought it down, and put it on the kitchen counter. Vladimir seemed to have forgotten his anger at me, or at least had gotten distracted for a while, for he stared at the box curiously as I opened it._

_I took out a little piece of paper. There was a tear on the top of it, which threatened to split the whole note into two halves. It was stained with dried blood. I put it on the counter, and flipped it around so that Vladimir could see it._

"_**A gift for you, Mr A. Makarov. **_(A/N: A. Makarov is the name I'm giving to Vladimir and Sofia's father.)

_**-I.Z.**__"_

_I could see in Vladimir's eyes as he remembered that day…that day when I, he, and our father returned to our house after a fishing trip. We had been expecting a mouth-watering dinner prepared by my mother, but all we got was her tied to the rafters via a noose around her neck, a silvery black bullet hole in her forehead, and this very note nailed to her feet._

_My father had lead the Loyalists then, and fought against Imran Zakhaev constantly. Never did any of us think that something that terrible and devastating would happen._

_I remembered my father, in fear of me or Vladimir getting attacked by Imran Zakhaev, sent us off on separate routes to different places. Me, to London, and Vladimir, to Spain._

_Or at least that's where he was supposed to go. He somehow managed to run from the airport, and without my father knowing, stayed in Russia. I wasn't so lucky. I ended up in London, and stayed in a boarding school for the next 4 years, until I managed to convince my father to let me come back, just for a few months. And that was where the next piece of evidence came in._

_I pulled out an old photograph from the box, and slid it across the counter to my brother._

_It was of me and Vladimir. However, a red circle circled the head of a man, on the side of the photograph, with a gun raised, pointing directly at the viewer. It was obvious that that had been Imran Zakhaev, and that he had been the one who had shot my father when he took that photograph._

_As he held the photograph, the last thing my father saw before he died, I growled at Vladimir. _"_**Is that enough proof for you?**__"_

_Vladimir sighed. "__**Sofia, listen. Fine, he did kill them. But…you don't understand, Sofia. Our parents…they weren't good people. Imran Zakhaev is. He –**__"_

"_**FUCK YOU! OUR PARENTS WEREN'T GOOD PEOPLE? WHAT KIND OF SHIT IS THAT? YOU FUCKER! They weren't the ones that ran around killing off innocent people! Zakhaev was!**__" I screamed at him, tears rolling down my cheeks. He was shocked, clearly at my choice of words, but he overlooked that._

"_**The Westerners and the Russian government aren't innocent people! They murder us! You don't see it, but it's true! That's why I'm working with Zakhaev! Because he's right! We need to get rid of them!**__"_

_I shook my head, speechless. I realised, that no matter what I did, what I said, it wouldn't get processed in his stupid thick head._

_I stormed off to my room. Grabbing my suitcase, I threw all of my clothes and necessities into it. 15 minutes later, I had almost cleared my whole room. Either I didn't own that much of stuff, or I had a really big suitcase. I didn't know._

_Dashing down to the living room, I wasn't surprised when Vladimir wasn't there. He always left the house after we argued, and would return after an hour or two._

_**Well, looks like this time I won't be there to open the door for you**__ I thought._

_I picked up the little box on the kitchen counter. Vladimir had put the note and the photograph back inside. I stuffed those into my suitcase, and walked into the kitchen._

_I bent under the sink, and took the small bronze key that was hidden there. I walked across to the other side of the room, and unlocked a drawer with it. In it, were all the things Vladimir and I would ever need if we were to have to go underground for any reason. My father had done it all._

_I flipped through my fake passport._

_Alexsandra Petrova._

_I picked up my share of the forged documents, and took a bundle of cash. I was taught that credit cards and bank accounts always left paper trails, so I never used them. I put all of this into my suitcase, and stepped out of my house. I planned to go back to Edinburgh's Medical College, and get a room in their boarding school facilities. _

_Before I knew it, I was on a plane back to London._

I snapped out of my reverie when I heard a door close. I turned and realised Vladimir had brought me behind the doors that were on the side of the ballroom. It wasn't a room, like I had been expecting. It looked more like a maze of walls and junctions and corridors.

"_**So what do I do with you know, Sofia?**_" Vladimir circled me, like a predator. "_**I see you're still wearing my ring.**_"

"_**Don't be flattered. **__**You either let me go, or I kill you.**_" I threatened pulling out my .44 Magnum. My clutch clattered to the floor, and I kicked it away. I smiled slightly. Guess who's the predator now, huh?

But the smile was wiped off my face clean when the ex-Spetsnaz soldier kicked the gun out of my hands. His hands somehow found my neck, and he slammed my head against the concrete wall. I pushed him off me until there was enough space between us for me to throw a couple of punches. He gave me a sucker punch, and I felt the air suddenly leave my mouth and lungs. I thought he would take advantage of my temporary defenceless nature, but all he did was stand before me, and whisper something into the cuff of one of his sleeves. He aimed another kick at me, and walked off.

I tried to get up. I managed to, but I felt quite dizzy. I attempted to run, but the world shook sideways, and I just crashed into corner, and fell into another corridor that the previous one turned into.

I heard the door open, and men stormed inside. Somehow this straightened up my vision. I started scampering.

"_**I hear her! I hear the girl running!**_" I continued scurrying and within a few seconds, I heard him yell that he'd seen me. I ducked the few shots that were fired. As I stumbled on my stilettos, I pried them off of my feet. It was effective, and I immediately started sprinting. I took a quick peek at them; they all seemed to be carrying rifles.

As I turned, I analysed my situation, and weighed my options. This was their area. They knew this place better than I did. It wasn't going to help if I kept running. I had to get rid of them.

Perhaps I could lose them? But no, unless I knew how to get out of here, I was trapped. I cursed at myself for not picking up my Magnum before I started to dart. I had to secure a weapon.

Good for me, an idea popped into my head that very moment.

I turned a corner, but instead of continuing to stride, and stopped and stood there, my back pressed against the wall.

The first few men turned the corner. I could tell that they were all shocked. They had been expecting me to be still scrambling, and so their rifles weren't raised. I grabbed the one of their rifles, and slammed its butt into the owner's head. Another man pointed his rifle at me. I kicked him in the lower abdomen, and when he cringed, I shot him. I quickly turned the rifle and opened fire upon the rest of his men until I ran out of bullets. I ducked back into the corner, taking it as cover, and picked up the rifle of one of the dead men, and popped out, firing on the rest of them.

I was certain I had dropped all of them when I heard something on their radios.

"_**Team Two, head towards the rooftop and cover Makarov and his helicopter. Team Three, we have visuals on unknown hostiles entering the building. They seem to be heading for the rooftop. Cut them off before they can. Team One, have you captured or killed the girl yet?**_"

Unknown hostiles sounded a lot like 141 to me. So Vladimir was running away now? Holding the rifle close to me, I dashed, weaving through the corridors, when I saw a staircase that looked like a few that I had ran past a while ago. I ascended the staircases, and managed to reach the rooftop. I swa Vladimir almost boarding the chopper. I got to him as fast as my legs could carry me.

Vladimir had put one foot into the chopper when I flung him around to face me. Perhaps I should've just kicked him in his knees or something, as when I turned him around, he gained momentum, and performed a backfist on me. I stumbled a little, but recovered. He kicked my abdomen, just as I gave my brother a good old hammer fist. He staggered back straight into the helicopter, just as I fell backwards, and landed hard on the ground. My head throbbed. I heard someone yelling in Russian to take off the chopper.

I raised the rifle that I had, just as the chopper began to get altitude. I couldn't aim, as I was using one of my arms to prop my body up. I fired five shots. 2 went astray, 1 hit the chopper but didn't cause much of any damage, and the other 2 managed to strike Vladimir. I didn't know where I'd shot him; I only heard him cry out in pain.

My head started spinning, and helicopter flew away. I let my head fall back and breathed heavily.

The sound of footsteps got me alert again. I flipped around and saw Captain MacTavish, Captain Price, Ghost and Roach.

I was so, so, so fucking screwed.

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><p><strong>TALK TO ME? HOW WAS IT? GOOD, BAD, TERRIBLE? I NEED TO KNOW! And also, do me a favor and tell me what you think about the team's reactions to this. Well, mainly Captain MacTavish, Captain Price, Ghost and Roach, but if you want to do the others, please :) I just can't decide on who'll be angry, who'll be kinda okay with it, and who'll blow their top...so please help?<strong>


	8. Princess

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for Sofia!**

**Author Note: Hi! Was my last chapter good? I don't know…I mean I didn't really get that many reviews…so I thought I screwed it up or something…I need to know whether it's good or bad. So please review. Even a single word (Good/Bad) will do!**

**Hey people! This is my first story so I'd appreciate if you could R&R! Criticism is okay as long as it isn't rude!**

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><p>I got up and made my way over to them. I opened my mouth to begin explaining when all of a sudden, Captain MacTavish's fist collided violently with the side of my face.<p>

I staggered backwards, my vision full of black spots. My jaw was aching like it was broken. He'd somehow managed to hurt my nose as well. I had never, ever, ever, been punched _that _hard in my life.

"Soap. She's a girl." I heard Price's voice. Well, at least he wasn't going to punch me. I looked up.

MacTavish, as I had expected, was visibly fuming. He glared at me, and then stormed off, muttering a string of obscenities under his breath. Price was just wearing a poker face. As usual, I couldn't see Ghost's expression.

Roach seemed to be the only one who felt for me.

"He's your brother."

I nodded.

"So that's why you know so much about him…"

"Look, I can, and will, understand if you hate me forever after this. But let me tell you one thing." I showed them the ring that I was wearing on my hand. "He gave this to me. And I've been dying to get this off my finger for a very long time. Cos this binds me to him. Binds me to that bastard. Shows that I'm family."

"But I made a vow. I made a vow, when he became a bloody terrorist, to no get this off my finger until he dies. It's like some sort of motivation. Every day I look at myself in the mirror and ask myself when the hell am I going to get this bloody ring off my hand. Cos that's when the world – my world – will finally see peace. And after all I would've gone through, I think that'll be the least I'd deserve."

Silence hung in the air for quite a while. Finally Price spoke.

"Exfil should be here by now. We should move."

Price and Ghost started to walk away. Roach waited for me, and we followed them. On the way, we walked through the maze of corridors again. Roach picked up my heels that I'd ditched in an attempt to escape for me. I thanked him, and we continued our way to the chopper.

As we buckled up, I found Roach staring at me from across the chopper. "What?"

"Why didn't you tell anyone?"

I knew that Price, Ghost and Soap were listening in. "Would you guys have let me stayed if I had?" I stared directly at Roach. He didn't reply.

I touched my nose to feel for any sign of a breakage. Nothing. I felt relieved as I pulled my hand away.

Of course, as per the norm, my relief was short-lived.

There was blood on my hands. Not a lot, but not very little either. I winced.

Roach looked up at me.

"My nose. Got hit pretty hard." I explained to him, keeping my voice as low and possible.

"You actually look better than you did before you went in." Roach winked, grinning in amusement.

I immediately took off one of my heels and threw it at him. He dodged it, laughing.

"Jerk." I said, but I couldn't help smiling too.

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><p>I stared at the board in the living room. I'd been doing that ever since we'd gotten back.<p>

We had landed almost 2 days ago. Everyone asked about what happened. Captain MacTavish glared at me, and then left. Not wanting to face any of them, I returned to my room too. I'd changed, slept, and following Roach's insistence, visited the infirmary to get all my bruises, and especially my nose, checked out. After that, I came back into the living room, and somehow, for some reason, I couldn't get past the board with Makarov's picture and all the sticky notes. I just stared at it, thinking about him. About all the things I could've done differently, that would've ended up with him dead. The guys came in once in a while, and whenever they did, they'd try to ask me to do something else. Like play basketball with them. Or do some shooting. I was glad they weren't mad at me, but I turned them down. After half a day, they gave up. Only Roach kept coming up to me. He tried to talk me into walking around the base, or going for a run. But I politely refused his suggestions.

I just couldn't stop staring at it.

Someone came in. I could tell, by the lack of sound, and voices and chatter it was just one person. I should've known Roach wouldn't give up that easily.

"Leave me alone, Roach. I just want to stay here. Go."

"And what if I refuse to leave, princess?"

I straightened up and swivelled around. "Price…I thought you were Roach…" I turned back and faced Makarov.

There was a moment of silence between us.

"I let him get away." I murmured, sober.

"No you didn't. You tried to get him. He just slipped through your fingers."

"I should've just killed him when I first saw him…in the ballroom…"

"His men would definitely have shot you if you'd done that."

"I'd rather die knowing I killed the world's greatest terrorist than live knowing I let him get away."

"You didn't just let him get away. You put 2 bullets in him first. That's more than anyone's ever been able to accomplish up till now."

I sighed.

"We'll get him. Someday."

"I know." I agreed, getting up.

"Now _you_ need to take a break for a while. Get him outta your mind."

"I'll take a break once I get the ring off."

Price raised an eyebrow at me.

"Determination." I explained.

"Sounds more like obsession."

I paused, thinking about what he said. Finally I shrugged. "If it gets him killed, then it's okay, isn't it?"

"Sure, s'long as you don't get killed too, princess."

"I won't". I looked Price straight in the eye. "I promise."

"Good." Price walked away. He was about to leave the barrack when he stopped at the door. He turned around and looked at me.

"Stop thinking about him. It's not going to help. That's an order, by the way. If I see you staring at that board a little too much I'll get you fired, you clear?"

"As clear as crystal, sir." I smiled.

Price smiled lightly and left, and I turned to face the board. I looked at the picture of Makarov straight in the eyes, and as I walked away, there was only one thought in my mind.

"Watch your back, Vovka. We're coming to get you."

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><p><strong>First of all:<strong>

**Vovka= Nickname for the Russian name 'Vladimir'.**

**Princess= Price's nickie for Sofia. How she got this nickname from him, you're gonna have to wait to find out. I'll be posting a oneshot about it. I just felt it didn't fit in the story properly, so I wanted to write it separately.**

**Okay, now:**

**REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!**


	9. The Chapter Where Nobody Follows Orders

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for Sofia, Arfan and Aqilah Shadid and Nassr Bashwari!**

**Author Note: This is a kinda I'm bidding farewell chapter ;) No, this isn't the end fo the story (of course not!) but I may not be able to write for quite a while because my school is going to start next week (ARGH!). **

**Oh, and this starts at the end of the level 'Contingency' :)  
><strong>

**PLEASE REVIEW!**

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><p>I knew I was supposed to watch the entrance of the submarine (read: kill hostiles who tried to enter) while Price did whatever he was supposed to do inside. Honestly, I didn't know what he was doing inside. I was tired during the briefing, and thus had missed out about 90% of whatever had been said and discussed. All I knew was that the bad Russians were trying to launch missiles. Getting frustrated at the lack of contact, I decided to give up my guarding post and ran in to check on Price.<p>

I saw him surrounded by huge screens and lots of keyboards. He was ruffling through papers on the desk.

"What are you looking for?" I asked him.

He glanced at me briefly before answering. "Launch codes...they've got to be here...somewhere."

Did I just hear what I heard? I thought we were there to _stop_ the missiles from being launched?

"Launch codes? Don't you mean abort codes?"

Price turned and gave me a lingering stare, as he said "No, I mean launch codes."

I pondered about it for a while. It took me a full minute to understand his plan.

"Shepherd's gonna kill you."

"I don't give a damn about him."

"This is a _really_ bad idea, Price."

"I don't care. This war's got to end." Price muttered, rummaging the desk for any sign of the launch codes.

I walked around, seeing if I could help him in any way, when I saw a few computer monitors on a table. I made my way to one of the monitors. Sitting down, I tapped a few keys on the keyboard. The screen turned blue, and demanded a password. I typed in my mother's name, remembering how Vladimir had a bit of a soft spot for her, whereas he hated my father with a vengeance.

Russian words meaning 'Wrong Password' blinked in red. I bit my lip. What else?

I attempted another password. This time it was my name. I was greeted by blinking red words again. I felt mad at myself. I most probably had only five tries, and I had wasted one on my name. What was I expecting? It's not like I was loved by Vladimir!

Sighing, my mind started whirring with other possibilities. Each was as unlikely to be the correct password as the next. Finally, I thought of something.

My fingers moved across the keyboard, and when I was done, I pressed enter.

This time the desktop screen loaded up. I should've known.

Of course 'Zakhaev' was going to work.

I quickly scanned the desktop, and found a folder with the name 'Missiles'. After navigating through files and softwares and other crap, I had found what I'd wanted.

"Price! I found something!" I called out to him.

He came to where I was a looked at the screen over my shoulder. He smiled slightly.

"Thanks princess." Price gave me a peck on the cheek and returned to the huge screen which had 'MISSILE ABORT CODES:' blinking on it.

Price typed in the codes.

We both watched as the huge screen turned green. The ground slightly vibrated. I guessed the doors must have been opening.

"Price, are you there? The silo doors are opening on the sub, I repeat, the silo doors are opening on the sub!" Ghost voiced into our intercoms. Price had his back to me, and seemed to ignore Ghost.

"Price, come in! They're opening the silo doors on the sub! Hurry!" I felt bad that the rest of the team wasn't aware of the true goals of this mission. "Price, did you tell MacTavish?" Without turning he nodded. Great. So it was just Roach and Ghost who didn't know.

"Price, do you copy? The silo doors are open! I repeat, the silo doors are open!" Ghost shouted into our earpieces. I winced.

"Good." Price's reply came in one smoothly uttered word, and it had me cringing as I imagined Ghost's reaction to it. The ground started to shake violently, throwing me off balance. I grabbed a nearby chair for support.

"Wait - wait, Price, NO! WE HAVE A NUCLEAR MISSILE LAUNCH!MISSILE IN THE AIR! MISSILE IN THE AIR! CODE BLACK, CODE BLACK!"

I squeezed my eyelids shut. _Oh God…_

This was _not_ going to end well.

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><p>"You did WHAT?" Shepherd's voice blasted. Even though we weren't in the room, Ghost, Soap, Roach and I could very easily hear the whole thing.<p>

We'd gotten back, and immediately Shepherd called for a meeting. He wanted to know how the mission had gone. All of us looked at Price, who told us to leave the room. And thus, we were outside, listening as Shepherd and Price talked. Well, actually Price was the one talking. Shepherd was yelling.

"You were sent to destroy the submarine!"

"I know."

"And then you decided to launch it? And you didn't just launch it; you launched it into the sky!"

"Well, where else should I have launched it? Up my arse?"

Roach and I sniggered. Both Soap and Ghost glared at us, and we immediately shut up.

Price and Shepherd continued talking, but they did so in low voices. I strained to hear what was being discussed.

"Do you think he's gonna be in trouble?" Roach asked. I scoffed. "Of course not, Roach. Have you ever seen the man get into trouble? It's _Price_ for heaven's sake! He's a badass! He'll be fine!" Soap smiled slightly at my comment.

Soap and I…we seemed to be getting along…slowly. He didn't really ignore me or anything anymore, but he still wouldn't talk to me properly. As for Ghost, well, he and I were on good terms, and the whole 'I'm-Makarov's-sister' issue hadn't really changed much between us.

The door opened. The two men exited, and they looked quite civil. Shepherd didn't look that mad; I guessed Price must've managed to convince him that launching the missile had actually been a good idea. Shepherd bid us a good day and was going to leave, when Ozone walked in.

Ozone's eyes were focused on a laptop that he was carrying. "Captain…I think you should call General Shepherd. I've got something…"

"Yes, Sergeant?" General Shepherd acknowledged. Ozone's eyes shot up and he seemed shocked by Shepherd's presence. He recovered from it and continued. "Err…this way, General."

Ozone led us back to the living room, where he set down the laptop on a nearby table. He connected speakers to it, and then played out what sounded like a phone call. It got the attention of everyone else in the room too.

The voice sounded like a middle aged man, and he sounded quite worried. His entire speech was in Arabic, and thus I only understood bits of it. When it was over, Soap translated it for us.

"He's saying that he's an informant for the CIA, and that the local drug ring had kidnapped his daughter in retaliation for some information he has about them. He says they're demanding 2 million USD in ransom, and he doesn't have the money so he's asking us for help."

Roach asked a question that was running through my mind as well. "Why ask us?" Ozone explained. "He knows the CIA won't help him; they burned him about 2 weeks ago, citing that the intel he was passing on was false, and he had become a double-double agent. He also passed some intel concerning other drug rings to us, so I guess that's why he's coming to the 141 instead." Roach did the 'Ahhhhhhhh….' thingy, until Price, Soap and Ghost glared at him, whereupon he immediately stopped. I chuckled.

Ozone worked a little bit of his magic, and pulled up three profiles on the screen. He pointed at the first one. "That's the informant." I scanned through the dossier.

His name was Arfan Shadid. According to the dossier, he had been working for the CIA as an informant for nearly 5 years. In return, the CIA gave him and his family, which I learned to consist of his wife, 2 daughters, and 2 sons, protection from the drug rings that he was spying on.

I turned to the next dossier. This one was of a man named Nassr Bashwari. Bashwari was the head of his family's drug ring, and was considered to be 'armed, surrounded by heavy security and highly dangerous' by the CIA. In the bottom of his dossier, was in red: 'CIA agents given clearance to Kill/Capture on sight'

I let out a low whistle. "Looks like the CIA really wants him…" Ozone nodded. "Bashwari operates silently, and barely appears on the CIA's radar at all—"

"Which makes him good at his job?" Soap interjected.

"Very." Ozone clarified.

The last one was of a girl. Aqilah Shadid. Youngest daughter (and child) of Arfan Shadid, at just 5 years old. She had long, straight, dark brown hair, and dark brown eyes to match. She looked very adorable with pinkish lips that contrasted with her olive skin tone, and cherubic cheeks.

"And that is the daughter who got kidnapped?" I asked. Ozone nodded. I felt sick, to know that. How, and why, would _anyone_ in the world want to hurt a cute little kid like her? I turned to Shepherd. "So when are we going to extract her?"

Shepherd looked at me. "We're not goinganywhere."

"What?" Roach blurted. Everyone around us was shocked to hear him say that. It was a well-known fact around the base that he was very scared of Shepherd.

"We don't waste our time saving betrayers." Shepherd swivelled and walked to the door. I kept up with him, walking alongside him as went, trying to explain.

"_He_ may be a betrayer," I said, pointing at Arfan's dossier. "but that doesn't mean his daughter is too!"

"We've got better things to do than go on a rescue operation right now."

I moved in front of Shepherd, blocking him from the door, and spoke in a soft voice, but I guessed the guys must've still been able to hear me.

"I know what the world can do to a girl who only sees beauty in it_."_

"My orders are loud and clear. We are _not_ going after that child." General Shepherd glared at me, and left.

I heard the door slam shut. I looked at the guys. They seemed uncomfortable at the idea of letting a five year old kid die too, but they were soldiers. They knew they weren't allowed to question their orders.

He'd given orders to not go after her. I guessed I couldn't.

But she was a _five_ year old! A _kid_! She could get hurt, and if Nassr Bashwari was as dangerous as the CIA made him sound, then she would _definitely_ get killed.

General Shepherd's words were ringing in my head. "_My orders are loud and clear. We are _not_ going after that child_."

Then I heard Price. "_I don't give a damn about him._"

I bit my lower lip.

"Roach. You want to go on a black op?"

* * *

><p>Everyone froze at my words, except for Price, who was smiling and shaking his head in the 'I knew that was going to happen' way.<p>

Roach just gaped at me. "What are you? Insane? He just _told_ you not to go after her!"

"C'mon Roach! Have some sympathy! She's a child!"

"I know, but –"

"Fine. You're right. You'll get into trouble."

Roach seemed relieved. "So you're not going?"

"Oh, no." I grinned. "_I'm_ still going."

Roach looked terrified again. I turned to Ozone. "Can you get Arfan Shadid on the line?"

"Well, yeah…but really Sofia…you shouldn't go –"

"Get him on the line."

Soap interjected. "Ozone, I'm ordering you against that." I looked at him. He seemed concerned. I grimaced and swivelled to Price. After a moment, Price spoke.

"Ozone, get him on the line." Soap glared at him, and he shrugged.

Ozone pressed his lips together and forced himself towards the computer, and began tapping at the keyboard.

"So what's the plan?" Price asked.

"I'll get to wherever they're holding the kid, give the money, and drop her off at her home. Simple."

"I don't think the DOD or the CIA is going to fund this."

"I've got money."

"You've got 2 million bucks?" Meat asked, raising his eyebrows. "I think you sometimes forget that my brother's a mercenary, and there used to be a time when he actually cared for me." I smiled.

"He gave you some of the money?" Neon asked. I nodded.

"Won't that make you pretty darn rich?"

"I don't touch any of it. I don't need money that was earned from killing civilians. I'm only using it now so that we can save that kid."

"Sofia." Roach called me softly.

"Hmm?" I turned to face. He seemed to be contemplating something sincerely. After a while, his face cleared up.

"I'm coming with you."

"Roach, you don't have to –"

"As long as you're going, I'm coming with you." I stared at him, and realised he wasn't going to change his mind. "Alright then."

"How come only two of you are going?" Meat asked, faking a pout.

"Two's company – three's a crowd. Any more than me and Roach, and it'll be too obvious that we're undercover, and we'll seem defensive. And Roach is coming along since he looks the least like a soldier."

Everyone sniggered and Roach glared at me.

"What I meant was that you look really young, whereas everyone else looks old!" I defended myself. Now everyone _else _glared at me and Roach sniggered.

"I've got him on the line." Ozone announced.

"Can you translate for me?" I asked Soap. He sighed and nodded.

"Listen, this is the 141. We're going after your daughter. Don't worry, she'll be fine. I need you to tell me where they want you to pay them. And next time they call, tell them you're sending one of your people with the money."

Soap translated all of that for me. Arfan Shadid replied, and Soap translated it back. "Hotel Earth. They're in a room booked under the name Robert Belamore. He says thanks."

"Tell him it's my pleasure."

* * *

><p>I neatened my now dyed sandy brown hair, and patted down my black, skirted suit. Slipping my feet into strapped black pumps, I stepped out of my room.<p>

The guys were all in a circle, with Roach in the middle. It seemed like they were helping him with his suit.

"Straighten that part! It's standing funny!" Neon commented.

"Roach stop looking down!" Scarecrow chastised, tugging on a part of Roach's jacket.

"Just stay that way…" Toad murmured, while pulling out Roach's sleeve cuffs so that they peeked out of his jacket.

"Roach do you even know how to tie a tie? Goodness!" Archer scolded, tying Roach's tie.

"You look like a monkey in a suit." Meat said, laughing as he watched from a distance.

"Guys. Enough. He looks fine."

The guys slowly pulled back from Roach.

I gave him an once-over. "You look good."

"You too." He grinned.

"Are we ready?"

"Yep." Meat said, jumping off the couch. He walked to the dining table and took down a dark leather suitcase and handed it to me.

"Did you get all 2 million packed in it?"

He nodded.

"Good. Cause if I find so much as one dollar missing, I'll murder you." I threatened. "I didn't take anything! I swear!" Everyone laughed.

"C'mon, let's go." I told Roach.

"Are you sure about this Sofia? The last time we sent you undercover –"

"Captain MacTavish, I'll be fine." I articulated slowly, like a kid assuring her mother that she'll be fine during a school field trip. I _could_ see why he was worried; this wasn't exactly a school field trip.

"You're going without any backup –"

"What do you mean she's going in without backup?" This time it was Roach who interrupted him. "I'm her backup!" He said with pride.

There was an awkward moment of silence.

"Yeah just try not to trip will ya?" Archer said. Hysterical laughter ensued.

Roach frowned, rolling his eyes. "Yeah yeah whatever Archer. Keep cracking jokes, we'll see who's laughing when this mission ends!"

"I wasn't joking!" Archer grinned. We started laughing again, and Roach gave Archer the one-digit salute, before he and I left the barrack.

I really hoped I wouldn't get Roach killed.

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><p><strong>I can promise you, Chapters 10 &amp; 11 are going to be <strong>_**very**_** explosive :P Will Roach and Sofia manage to get the kid? More importantly, will they **_**survive**_**? *dun dun duuuuuuuun!***


	10. Extractions, Enemies, Explosion

**Disclaimer: I only own Sofia, Nassr Bashwari, his two guards, and Aqilah Shadid!**

**A/N: Yeah, I decided to be more evil, and leave you guys with a crazy cliffhanger instead. Haha XD**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**

* * *

><p>I opened the glass doors to the hotel. Roach and I entered.<p>

I had to say, it was amazing. The atmosphere was clearly of a top-class luxury hotel. Chill air swept the heat away from my body, which was a relief. I couldn't take my eyes off the sleek and lavishly decorated lobby, with modern black leather armchairs in groups of fours that were each circled around a futuristic glass table with a vase of flowers adorning it. I turned to Roach, and nearly had a heart attack.

His mouth was opened in a huge 'O'. His hazel eyes were wide and bright as he looked around the hotel. He held the suitcase against his chest with both his hands holding on to the bottom of it, with the handle inches away from his chin.

I gave him a sharp nudge. He jerked and snapped around to look at me.

"What?"

"That is not how you hold a suitcase! You're freaking supposed to be a part of a drug ring! Not a five year old kid!" I whispered.

"Oh, sorry." He smiled sheepishly before taking the suitcase handle in his right hand and holding it parallel to his right leg.

I tried not to smile at that, and walked towards the receptionist.

"Hotel Earth, where the grass is _always_ greener." The receptionist chirped at me. She was a beautiful blonde, with bright blue eyes and luscious red lips. I hoped Roach wasn't drooling. "How may I assist you?"

"I'd like to know where Robert Belamore is staying. He's invited me."

"Oh yes, he said he was expecting someone. Just give me a minute." She smiled graciously once again, and turned to her computer.

As she tapped the keys on the keyboard, I turned to Roach. His arms were folded on top of the front desk, and he was whistling. Once he saw the glare I was throwing at him, he immediately stopped and straightened up.

"He's in Room 1606. It's on the sixteenth floor."

"Thank you." I smiled at her and click-clacked to the elevators.

"How do you balance yourself in those shoes?" Roach whispered.

"I'm a girl. Girls have a tendency to be able to balance ourselves in large heels." I muttered, as we got into the lift.

Roach pressed '16', and the doors closed.

"Now remember, don't say a _word_. I'll do the talking, okay?"

"Yeah yeah." He replied, sounding a little pissed off. I touched his arm. "What's the matter?" I asked softly.

"Nothing." He replied, a little harshly.

I sighed. "Look, if you're feeling mad that I'm making you do nothing but carry the suitcase, it's only because I don't want you to get hurt or something. You saw the dossier. Nassr Bashwari is a very dangerous man." When he didn't say anything, I continued.

"Gary," I murmured tenderly. He slowly turned and looked at me. I had never called him by his first name before. "Gary if you got killed during this whole thing, I'd never forgive myself."

I looked up at him. Roach looked deep into my eyes. I heard the 'thud' as the suitcase fell to the floor. Before I knew it, his lips were pressed against mine. I was surprised at first, but then I slowly began kissing him back. His thumbs caressed my cheeks. It felt like the whole world had frozen. It was just me and him, together…

Both of us pulled away at the same time. Roach stepped away from me, shaking his head. "Oh God, Oh God, Oh God, Sofia I am _so_ sorry –"

"It's uh – it's okay…" I stumbled over my words. "Let's uh…let's just – forget this –" I waved my hand between us. "ever happened."

"Oh yeah...sure." He replied.

We couldn't look at each other for the rest of the lift ride. We both knew that was wrong on many counts. We're comrades. We're supposed to fight alongside each other, and watch each other backs. That's it. Friendship is the limit for any kind of relationship that is made between us.

We're not supposed to fall in love.

Especially in the middle of a war?

_Stupid, Sofia. Absolutely stupid. Crazy._

"Oh yeah, uh one more thing," I started, pretending as in the 'moment' between us hadn't occurred. "If shit starts flying south, grab the kid and run, alright?"

"What about you?" Roach asked, frowning.

"I uh…I'll find my way out…I think."

Roach raised his eyebrows. "You may just be my friend…best friend, even," I swallowed. When he didn't show any expression on his face, I felt a little something, perhaps disappointment, in how he seemed to move over it so quickly. "but I'm not just gonna leave you, okay? No one gets left behind."

"Didn't know you were in the United States Marines."

"I wasn't. 'No one gets left behind' transcends just the Marines."

I chuckled. He smiled. The lift opened.

We walked up to room 1606.

I knocked. The door opened slightly, thanks to a door chain. There was no one there. "I'm here for Arfan Shadid. Need to get his daughter." I said. The door closed, and I heard the lock being removed before it opened again.

There were three men inside the room. I immediately recognized Nassr Bashwari, who stood in the middle. He was smiling, but I knew not to trust him. I sized up the other two guys. There was one, who stood on Bashwari's right side, and he looked stern, and it seemed as if the creases in his forehead had been carved into there. His arms were crossed across his chest, and I spotted a handgun strapped to his side.

_If anything goes wrong, do not pick a fight with this guy. _I told myself.

The other man, who had opened the door and was standing near it, seemed young. But his bulky muscles showed through his shirt and sleeves. He also had a handgun in a holster attached to his belt.

_Or this guy_ I added.

I turned back to Bashwari. "Where's the girl?"

"Where's the money?"

I smiled before turning to Roach. He handed me the suitcase. I took it, and extended my arm towards Bashwari. When he reached for it, I pulled my hand back, still smiling. He looked at me, and chuckled.

Not taking his eyes off me, he ordered the man near the door to get her. He went into the room. I heard him say a couple of words that seemed quite foreign to me, and then he came back out.

I was relieved to see that Aqilah Shadid was unharmed. Her dark brown eyes were scanning Roach and me. Maybe she was wondering if we were going to hurt her.

I faced Bashwari, and handed him the suitcase. He took it and opened it, analyzing the stacks of notes in it carefully, before nodding at the young man, who let go of Aqilah. Roach called to her, and she hesitantly walked up to him. He murmured something in Arabic to her, and her face lit up.

"Alright then. Tell Mr Shadid that I enjoyed doing business with him." Bashwari grinned. I chuckled, turning to Roach, who now had Aqilah in his arms. "Go." I told him.

He frowned, confused. "Wait for me in the lobby. I'll be with you in a minute." I snapped, harshly. From my peripheral vision, I could see Bashwari shifting.

Roach clearly didn't want to leave me alone. I glared at him. After a few seconds of staring, he slowly nodded his head and left. The young guard closed the door behind him and Aqilah.

"So how can I help _you_?" Bashwari asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"I do not really like my…current job. Arfan doesn't…give me what I _want_…in return for the _services_ I give him."

Bashwari understood what I meant. He beamed, stepping closer to me.

"I didn't know Arfan used women. I also didn't know he had such good taste in them." He said smoothly. I giggled, kicking off my pumps and falling into the nearest chair, making sure to land in it with enough force so that it moved backwards a little, closer to the bulky younger guard.

I took my right shoe in my hands and played with the heel. Bashwari gave me a seductive (but still twisted) smile.

_Showtime_ I thought.

I quickly snapped out the blade that I had attached to the sole of my pumps, and twisted around, sticking it in the younger guard's neck. A red mist appeared as I grabbed the handgun he had.

Turning around, I raised it and shot the other guard, who just then was pulling out his own handgun. I quickly pointed my handgun at Bashwari.

Right in the middle of his pair of shocked eyes, I put a hole.

I breathed, tossing the gun away as he crumpled to the floor. _That was fast_ I thought.

I slipped into my pumps, grabbed the suitcase, removed the blade from the guard's neck (with resulted in another weak stream of pinkish mist) and left the room, making sure to close it behind me.

Before I left for the lift, I hung a 'DO NOT DISTURB' sign on the doorknob.

I walked into the lobby. Roach and Aqilah were sitting in the black armchairs. Once he saw me, relief washed over Roach's face. As I neared him, he frowned at the suitcase.

"How did you –? Oh, God, really, Sofia?" He rolled his eyes as he figured out what had happened. I chuckled.

"You do realize when they find his body his men are going to be after us, right?" That wiped the smile off my face pretty quick. "Shit." I hadn't thought of _that_. Damn...

"Exactly. Now let's get out of here." He said, grabbing Aqilah. The three of us brisk walked to the carpark.

I spotted our black car. Roach walked towards it, pulling out the keys from his pocket.

Aqilah and I were waking alongside each other when she tugged my arm, her eyes on the car. She halted.

"What is it?" I asked, even though I knew she couldn't speak English.

She pointed at the car. I nodded. Her eyes became wide and she started to shake her head so fast that her dark hair was whipping around and I thought she'd break her neck.

"Why?" I tried asking her, putting the suitcase down.

She said a sentence in Arabic. I could only understand 'the' and 'car'. Looking at my confused expression, she said something again. This time, it was only one word, but she still said it in Arabic and it didn't know what it meant. I shook my head. She decided to drop the speaking and used her hands to gesture something. She raised her hands high, and circled them until they dropped to her sides.

"Oh God, why do my skills at charades have to be tested now!" I squealed to myself.

Aqilah bit her lip, thinking hard. I turned and saw that Roach was approaching our car. She saw that too. Suddenly, her face became bright. She'd figured out a way to make me understand!

She said one word.

"Boom."

"Boom? What the hell is that supposed to mea –" I stopped midsentence. Suddenly everything pieced together. _Oh my fuck…_I started running.

"ROACH! NO! THEY'VE RIGGED THE CAR –!" I screamed, racing towards him, but my voice was muted by a loud explosion. My hands instinctively covered my eyes.

Maybe I should've listened to Tavish when he told me not to go.

* * *

><p><strong>HEHE EVIL CLIFFHANGER .<strong>

**REVIEW!**


	11. Shangri-La (Or So She Thought)

**Disclaimer: I only own Sofia, Nassr Bashwari, his men, and Aqilah Shadid!**

**A/N: SORRY! SO SO SO SORRY! I can't apologize enough for putting you through a six month wait. **

**PLEASE REVIEW!**

* * *

><p>Something slammed into my body and knocked me down. I fell to the ground. Pain ached all over my joints at the sudden impact but it seemed to numb itself as I came to my senses. I lifted my upper body off the ground a little; whatever hit me was still on my back, and it was heavy. My hair formed a curtain of sorts around my head as I stared at the grey ground. I didn't want to turn around. Violent images started reeling in my mind. I didn't want to turn around.<p>

What would I see? Blood? Of course. Of course there would be blood, and it would be the least of my worries. There would be Roa – human flesh…and maybe organs and limbs and – oh God what have I done?! Why did I even…My eyes started to blur, and I shut them, adamant.

I wasn't going to let the tears escape. No. Roach wouldn't want me to sit around crying. Aqilah was definitely still alive; she stayed behind. I looked up, and the innocent child stood, still covered in a filthy pink dress, peeking out from behind a pillar. Was she seeing all the blood that lay behind me?

"Don't – look…" I rasped out. Was that cracked, broken voice…mine? Gritting my teeth, I coughed in a pathetic attempt to rid myself of the hoarse voice coming from my throat.

I could mourn later. I needed to save a kid's life now.

I tried to get up, but the debris, whatever it was, had landed over me. It shifted. At first I thought it was because I was moving, but then I stopped briefly and whatever it was pushed itself off my back. I heard a groan, and I turned my head, desperate.

_Please please please don't be – Oh God –_

My eyes looked into soft hazel orbs that stared back. "Sorry I…pushed you down so hard. Didn't mean to do that." Roach's voice felt like a tuned melody to my ears. We both got up slowly, my eyes never leaving his face the whole time. Finally, when we were standing up straight, he turned to me fully and frowned. "You okay?"

"I…I –" Clearing my throat, I continued. "I thought you were…dead."

"Someone's gotta be there to save your sorry ass." He replied. I chuckled, but it was still with hesitation. "And next time, run _away_ from an explosion, not _towards _it. It's like, IED 101, you know? Who even let you in 141?"

The awkwardness and sentiment left the air as soon as the words left his mouth, and I frowned at him. "Well they've got idiots like you."

"I ran as soon as I saw secondaries and a wire!"

"You still triggered it, dumbass! It blew up because of you!"

"Okay can we argue later? We have a girl to save!" Roach exclaimed, his voice going up a few octaves. I tossed a quick look towards Aqilah, who had now come to stand beside me. "How are we gonna get out of here?"

Roach looked around. "I'll hotwire something. Can you get a weapon?" I nodded and left to the car park's entrance. The sky was starting to get a little dark by now. I looked around.

_Someone must've heard the explosion…_

Right at that moment, two men turned the corner and walked towards the car park's entrance. Taking a deep breath, I rushed out.

Once they saw me, they both paused. "Help! Please! My car – it just – I don't know what to do! My husband's still in there! Help me, please!" I started crying, for extra measure. They ran to me, and started speaking in little specks of broken English. I just shook my head and pointed inside the car park. One of the men jerked his head, telling the other to go inside and check it out.

They moment they looked away, I struck. I hit a pressure point of the first one, and before the second could even wheel back, I slammed my heel into the back of his knee. He immediately crumpled to the ground. I disarmed them, and then checked out the weapons. Assault rifles. They weren't ordinary policemen. Probably militia.

_Great. Just pissed off more people._

My thoughts were interrupted when I heard a car honking. I turned just as Roach pulled up next to me in a white SUV. I quickly got into the back seat where Aqilah was already sitting. Her eyes became fearful when she saw the rifles in my hand. Not knowing what to do, I chucked them under the seat.

"Do you know the way out of here?" I asked Roach. He nodded. The car ride was relatively silent, even almost peaceful after that for quite a while.

At least until Roach got onto the main road.

There was a loud noise, and before I knew it, the rear windshield had shattered and glass pieces where raining down on me and Aqilah. "Get down!" I yelled, and Aqilah immediately bent down to the foot area and curled up, shaking.

_Huh. Must be good to have the tiny body of a 5 year old. Easy to fit into little spaces._

I snatched one of the rifles from under my seat. "Keep driving. I'll take care of it. Oh, and unlock the passenger door windows would you?" I said. I heard a click in response and I rolled the window down. "Please don't get shot." Roach said, worried. "Just keep your eyes on the road." I hissed. Roach was going to make a turn that would give me time window I needed.

Exhaling, I twisted in my seat so that I faced the other side, and as soon as the car swerved, I partially slid my body out of the window, sitting down on the door and held on to the roof rack for support. My right hand held the rifle.

A black utility vehicle turned the corner.

I opened fire.

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><p><strong>AN: Sorry about the cliffhanger! But don't worry, I'm already working on the next chapter, and it should be up in about 1-2 days :) PLEASE REVIEW! XD THEY FEED MY SOUL! **

**AND I'M STILL SORRY ABOUT THE 6-MONTH WAIT.**

**I REALLY AM.**

**:(**


	12. La Fin

**Disclaimer: I only own Sofia, Nassr Bashwari's men, Arfan and Aqilah Shadid!**

**A/N: I'm thinking third chapter to the end of the story. What do you guys think? :) **

**PLEASE REVIEW!**

* * *

><p>Since I only could use one of my hands to shoot, I was firing from the hip and spraying bullets all over the car's windshield. Figured if I could get the driver, the other guys in the car wouldn't be a worry anymore since they'd probably crash.<p>

But _no_, everything had to be difficult. Bloody bastards (I'd been spending too much time with Ghost. Again.) had had bulletproof windows. Growling, I moved back into the car to rethink.

"What's happening?" Roach asked, weaving through the traffic.

I steadied myself as he swerved very suddenly to the right, causing a loud clash of different horns to blast my ear drums. "They've got bulletproof windows on them!"

Roach yelled something to me, but over the busy bustling peak hour traffic, I could barely hear anything. I asked him to repeat it and he said: "SHOOT THE WHEELS!"

Not such a bad idea. Preparing to stick myself out into a very vulnerable position, I breathed. My eyes flickered to Aqilah, who was gripping the bottom of the seat tightly. I tried to smile at her. She was quite brave for a young kid. Made me wonder what her life as the kid of a man in a war caused her to see.

Kids.

Was I ever going to have kids? I knew that probably, scratch that definitely, wasn't the best time to be thinking about having kids, but the car was still turning left and right every second so I figured I had until it remained steady to start shooting. Do I want to have kids? No. They're annoying, they're messy, they cry and whine and break stuff and then cry more. But they're also cute, and sweet, and when you look into their eyes you'd see yourself – and your other half.

Was I going to see Gary when I looked into my children's eyes?

I didn't have time to answer that question, for the Roach seemed to have gotten the car's path fairly into control. Exhaling, I contorted myself out, resting on the door once again, and started firing at the wheels like Roach had suggested.

I could see where the bullets were making contact with the hard asphalt, and they weren't hitting the wheels at all. I bit my lip as a bullet flew past my ear, narrowly missing it. I didn't have any extra ammo other than the other rifle I'd taken which meant I had to conserve bullets –

A bullet sunk into my arm. Everything seemed to slow down from there. I turned and saw blood, so dark it almost looked black, ooze out of the wound. The sudden impact caused my hand jerk, and I was almost dropping the rifle. I managed to get it, and wrapping my fingers around it tightly, I pulled myself back into the car.

I groaned a little. "Sofia! Soph!" Gary shouted. "I'm fine!" I lied. Damn, I'd forgotten what it felt like to get shot. I tore off a bit of my blouse and wrapped it around the wound as a makeshift tourniquet.

"You're not going out there again?!" Roach asked, more like ordered, when I glanced at the window. "I have to."

"I could lose them!"

"Are you sure?" I asked Roach. If he could, it'd be great, but at the speed Bashwari's men were travelling at, I didn't think so. Roach stuttered.

Sighing, I propped myself out again. I held the rifle just where I the wheels were. The car wasn't swerving, which made it easier. I pulled on the trigger.

The recoil hurt like a bitch, but it was worth it when the loud 'pop' of the car wheels bursting could be heard. I'd managed the hit the front wheels. I fell back into the car, and within a minute, the sounds of a car skidding could be heard. I missed the grand finale as I heard a loud crash, and before I could even blink, an explosion.

"That went well." I said.

Roach just sighed. I was about to ask him about his seemingly sour mood when another large black car stormed out of an alleyway on the right that we'd passed seconds ago and turned, gaining speed on our tail.

"Shit!" Roach yelled as he floored the accelerator. I didn't even bother shooting at it. "They aren't going to shoot at us!" I yelled to Roach, the lack of gunshots weirdly disturbing. Then I realised it. "Then what are they gonna do?!" Roach asked.

"They're gonna try to ram us! The car's huge at all they've been doing is trying to get closer to us! The hell are we going to do?! This car's got nothing on that one!" I said.

Roach frowned and gritted his teeth. But his eyes fell on something on the side of the road for a second. I suddenly heard a loud horn; too loud to be from a car. It sounded like something from a boat…or a ship. Roach suddenly laughed and whooped.

"Did you hear that?!"

"Yeah! So what?"

"You didn't see the sign?"

"No! What's going on?"

"Don't worry, I have a magnificent plan! Thought you and Aqilah might want to put on seatbelts and Soph, hold on to her."

I was confused, but I did as Roach told me to. I buckled Aqilah in and held onto her shoulder. I peeked around the front seats to see what was ahead of us.

The road was thinning into a two-lane bridge up ahead. There was nearly no traffic in this area, and cars that were ahead of us were beginning to slow down even though the bridge was way ahead. Roach was weaving through the rumbling cars, going at almost 65 miles per hour. The loud horn was still sounding, and it seemed to be coming from somewhere near the bridge. I noticed some weird construction on one end of the bridge (the one we were driving on towards) and realized that it was a rolling lift bridge. The kind of bridges that have a single leaf upward swing to allow for boat traffic underneath.

"Oh shit!" I shrieked as I realised Roach's 'magnificent' plan.

Policemen near the entrance of the bridge started yelling at us, gesturing wildly. Roach ignored them and slammed his foot down on the gas. The car zoomed forward as the bridge started lifting.

The bridge was quite high in the air when we went off its end.

Did I mention I'm not great with heights?

I shut my eyes tight, and gripped Aqilah's shoulder. I heard her screaming as we began our descent. My stomach flew up to my throat, and thanks to all the broken windows, the wind came in and sent my hair flying. My voice was stuck in my throat.

Before I knew it, the car slammed down onto the other side. The impact was so great I bounced upwards and hit my head on the ceiling pretty hard. I cried out in pain as Roach took to accelerating once again.

"Think we lost them?" Roach asked.

"Yeah." I answered softly. I was gonna throw up…

* * *

><p>"You have no idea how much I wish to thank you!" Arfan Shadid gushed thanks to us for what felt like the hundredth time. And Roach and I modestly accepted it for what seemed like the hundredth time. Sure, I was in for the action and the thriller chase and all, but emotional stuff wasn't really my scene.<p>

Arfan sent his children (who were all sweethearts) and his wife into their home, which was a little hut in a small village as he walked with us to our car (yep, the same poor white SUV). "You have saved my world, and I thank you for that."

"Just doing our job, sir." Roach said. "If you two ever need any help, any help at all, please, consider me to be one of your allies. I am very good at creating fake IDs and documents. If you were to ever need any, and I pray you would never, but if you were to, then you know you can come to me." Arfan said. I nodded. The sky was starting to get dark.

I was about to enter the car when I remembered something. I reached into the backseat and pulled it out.

Arfan's face was confused as I handed him the black suitcase. He opened it, and his face immediately lit up. He was shocked, and rendered speechless for the moment. I could've sworn I saw tears in his eyes. "That should be enough to put them through college." Roach said, smiling. "Thank you. God bless you two, and your taskforce."

"We'll be blessed if the war ends soon." I said, and the three of us laughed. After a polite wave off, Roach and I got into the car and he drove off.

I closed my eyes, but I couldn't sleep. All that talk Arfan made about his kids being his world and meaning everything to him…I couldn't quite put my finger to it, but it made me almost feel, yearning. Like I wanted it. Like I wanted little Sofias and little Garys running around my house, while I sit at the front porch next to Gary, laughing, smiling, _happy_.

"Listen Sofia…about that kiss…" Gary started. I didn't move. I kept my lids shut, and my breathing even, although my heart was pummelling in me. "Sofia, are you awake?"

After a while of more silence, Gary sighed. "Fuck…Oh god dammit. You're an idiot, Gar. Fuck. Why the hell did you even do that? Bet she fuckin' hates you." He sighed once more, and it pained me to hear him like that. I so desperately wanted to open my eyes and tell him _no, Gary, I don't hate you for God's sake _but I couldn't.

Because honestly, I didn't know if I'd be lying if I told him that.

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><p><strong>AN: Hope you guys liked it! I sure did!**

**So yeah, next chapter would be about Loose Ends :( so I guess I have, say, two more chapters or so till 'La Fin'! (That means 'The End' in French. Don't ask why the random French, I don't really know!) **

**PLEASE REVIEW! **

**WE'RE GETTING TO THE END OF THE ROAD! **

**I'D APPRECIATE MORE REVIEWS! **

**CAN I GET 70 BEFORE THE NEXT ONE?!**


	13. The Rise

**A/N: I don't know why, but I seem to be a huge fan of 6 month waits :D Here we go. Loose Ends.**

**This is gonna be tough.**

* * *

><p>"<em>It's been a tough week, gentlemen. We've lost more than we ever dreamed. But we will recover. I've got a blank check. And we're gonna use every cent of it killin' Makarov. Despite what the world may say, we are not savages, we don't kill civilians. We use precision. There's an evil man hiding in these shadows and we're gonna bring him into the light. Once his face is revealed, we will write history, gentlemen.<em>_These are the last safe havens left on Earth for Makarov and his men."_

"_Sounds like we gotta be in two places at once."_

"_Impossible?"_

"_Not for the One-Four-One."_

"_Fifty-fifty chance to take out Makarov, eh? Captain Price, request permission to take the safehouse with Roach."_

"_Granted. Soap and I will take the boneyard in Afghanistan."_

"_Very well. We will cut off all avenues of escape. This ends now."_

"_Strange. I could have sworn we ended this war yesterday."_

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><p>"Oi Bug; you're with me on this one. Get prepped to leave in half an hour." Ghost announced as he walked through the main room. Roach and I looked up from either side of the pool table. "What about me?" I asked Ghost. "Didn't Price tell ya you're sitting this one out since you busted your arm?"<p>

"He did, but Price isn't going with you, is he?" I smiled deceptively. "No he's not." My smiled widened. "And neither are you. What are you two up to this time? Poker?" My smile vanished. I figured begging was pointless, and that Ghost would probably just give up and shoot me instead.

"Sofia here is dealing me Tarot cards." Roach told Ghost. Ghost folded his arms and rested them on Roach's head. The latter grimaced. "Is that so? I wanna watch my Bug's future. Deal 'em out, Blondie." I did as Ghost said and Roach picked 4 cards. I laid them face down.

"Alright, let's see what the future holds for you, Bugboy." Roach sent a slight glare in my way, but he quickly turned to the cards, awaiting the results excitedly.

I flipped the first one. "Ooh – Ten of Wands!"

"The fuck is that supposed to mean?" Ghost interjected. "Hush! No interruptions!" I silenced him. "Ten of Wands means that you're pushing yourself too hard. Feeling burdened, overextending, struggling, et cetera." Roach started laughing.

"Aww, well that's what happens when you join an elite international military taskforce." Ghost pointed out. We chuckled. "Lighten up, Roach. Alright, next." I overturned the next card. It had a picture of an upside down man. "Hmm...the Hanged Man."

"You gonna kill yourself Bug?"

"No, but I just might gank you. Shut up and listen." Ghost responded by taking Roach in a chokehold. I ignored them. "Suspending action, sacrificing yourself or letting go..."

"Letting go?" Roach asked.

"Yeah, like surrendering to experience, ending the struggle, or accepting what is."

"Weird. Okay what's next?" I took the third card. This one was of a man and a woman, ready to share with each other the cups that they each held in their hands. I tried not to laugh.

"Two of Cups. Making a connection, drawing a truce...or acknowledging an attraction." I grinned. Roach looked away and blushed. "Holy shit is that why you professed your undying love for me yesterday in your sleep?"

"I'm sorry what?" I asked Ghost, my eyes wide. "Yeah, he was rattling on and on and on about the 'love of his life' and 'that beauty' last night in his sleep. Obviously it was to me, right Bug?"

"Yeah..." Roach was bright red by now. I was almost falling off my chair, laughing so hard.

"Yeah...well, you can quit the lying, Roachie, we all know that was about lil' Sofie."

"Of course it was." I played along. "Really, guys, we're an elite taskforce. You can't keep secrets from us. Secrets like you two have been making out in the rifle range and shit."

Roach and I went wide eyed.

"How did you –"

"No idea what you're talking about –"

"Listen, it was like once –"

"We would never –"

"Maybe twice –"

"We'd at least tell you guys first –"

"Okay fine like thrice –"

"SHUT IT." Ghost's voice reverberated through the room. Roach and I promptly shut up. "We know, we've known for a while, and we don't care. Just don't go all smooching when Shepherd's around. He isn't going to be as kind as me and Soap when it comes to young love. Anyway, like I said, get preppin'. We've got like 20 minutes to take off. Sofia, you're on comms and tech for this one."

Roach and I sighed in relief. Ghost walked into his room. "Wow."

"Yeah."

"Well we should get prepping."

"Yeap."

"See yah later."

"You too." I said as Roach begun to walk away. "Hey!" He turned. "Yeah?"

"Your last card." I said, pointing to the one unflipped card on the pool table. "Save it for after the mission."

"Alright." I smiled.

"No peeking, kay?"

"I promise." Roach and I smiled, and he departed.

My eyes fell on his third card, the Two of Cups. It had been a real rocky situation after the whole him-kissing-me incident, but it didn't take long after that for me to realize that I had feelings for him too. And a brief chat with MacTavish (was that how everyone found out? He promised he wouldn't tell...argh that idiot!), I saw no point in hiding it. We were in the middle of a war. Roach could die any day (_Touch wood! _I thought as I immediately reached for the pool table's leg. But then again it was fake. I brushed the thought aside.), as could I. No point pretending, so I yanked him aside one night, about a week ago, and we talked.

_And that's how we ended up making out in the rifle range! _I concluded in my head, chuckling to myself.

"Oi, princess!" I looked up. "Yeah Price?"

"How's the arm?"

"Pretty okay, why?" My heart suddenly started beating faster. Maybe they needed an extra person and if my arm was okay they'd take me!

"Then go help Nikolai out with his C-130. Clean it out a little, if you can. There's tons of shit in there we don't need."

I sighed. "Fine."

As I walked past Price, he grabbed my good arm. "Hmm?"

"You be ready to take that ring off."

I smiled. "I'm just sad I won't get to be there."

"They've got cams on their head wear, you'll get a live feed."

"I know, but still, I always wanted to be there, you know?"

"You wanted to be there or you wanted to be the one?" Price and I grinned at each other. "Yeah you've got a point there. I'll see you later, sir." He nodded and I left.

* * *

><p>"Uh, hey, can I come in?" I asked, slightly opening the room in which Roach was gearing up. "Oh yeah sure come on in!"<p>

I entered and watched as my boyfriend, a full grown man, who might I mention works in the army, struggled to get a bulletproof vest on himself. Really, Gary?

"Who even let you join the 141?" I asked as he exasperatedly tossed the vest away. "Never mind I've got enough equipment to carry already. Besides, we aren't expecting much of any gunfire, it's supposed to be stealthy."

I moved forward and started packing Roach's vest with grenades and flashbangs and other equipment. "Well with my brother there's no such thing as 'not much of any gunfire'."

"Sofia, we've gained one on him now. He has no idea we're coming."

I sighed. "I don't know...I guess I'm just scared. With Makarov you never know."

Gary took my face in his hands. "I will be fine. You just worry about running comms and your arm, okay?"

I nodded, a little bit of my worry gone. "Come on we're leaving." Ghost stood at the doorway. Roach and I turned back to face each other and we hugged tightly.

"Be safe." I said softly in his ear. "You too." We pulled away and leaned in again for a kiss. Gary's lips felt soft pressed against mine, and I was filled with a sudden warmth and glow inside of me. We pulled away again, this time it was permanent, and I walked to outside the door with Roach.

"Hey Roach, can you get that?" Rocket yelled over to him, pointing at a crate. Roach dashed forward to help out.

"You don't worry about anything, Sofia. I'll keep him safe." Ghost said in an undertone. "It's what I'm supposed to do, anyway."

"You take care of yourself too, Lieutenant." Ghost enveloped me in a quick, brief, one arm hug before leaving for the main room. I realized, in that moment, that all I knew about Ghost was what he wanted me to know. I didn't have one idea what the man behind the mask was like.

I didn't have much time to ponder on that. The guys were crowding around my little station that I'd prepared during my prep time at the dining table. There were multiple screens plugged to multiple keyboards and recorders and video players and tons of other tech I'd managed to find around the base.

"How come I never got such a cool and flashy work area during all those times I was running tech and comms?!" Ozone half whined half screamed.

"Because you didn't bother! This baby's all mine." I grinned proudly. "Why not just work with what Ozone had?" Captain MacTavish asked.

"Because it was shit."

"Oh fuck you bitch." Ozone retorted. "Dude that's Roach's job now." Meat interjected. Everyone started laughing, and Roach turned red again. "Very funny Ozone, really. Anyway, this area that you boys are in will soon become a historical monument. It will find its place reconstructed in a museum, and the children of the next generation will learn about this place and they'll have little field trips to here and shit. Because this is the place where all the behind the scenes action took place during the Taskforce 141 mission in which history's worst terrorist was found and killed. So of course I have to make it all pretty pretty for the magazines and the newspapers." I smiled widely.

The guys, clapped, laughed, and all of us slowly filtered out to the airborne vehicles' docking pads.

"I bet you fifty we're gonna find Makarov." Royce chatted up with MacTavish. "You're on, mate." The Captain grinned. "Make it a hundred." Price casually intoned as he lit a cigar. "Alright then." Royce laughed. "I'm in." Scarecrow said. Chemo, Rocket and Rook joined in on the bet. Roach and I briefly glanced at each other. "Me too, but I say the Captains are gonna find him." Roach joined in.

"You traitor!" Neon said. "I just think it's more likely Makarov'll be in a boneyard, that's all!" Roach defended. The rest of us chuckled at their antics.

Toad, Neon, Roach, Ghost, Scarecrow, Archer, Royce, Chemo, Worm, Ozone, Meat, Rook and Rocket begun boarding their plane, as Captain MacTavish and Captain Price were boarding Nikolai's C-130.

The planes began working up. "Let's end him today!" Price yelled over the sounds of the engines.

"Hoorah!"

"Roger that!"

"Da!"

"Let's." I whispered to myself. The planes started to take off. The guys leaned over to wave at me. I waved back. I saw Roach, and we nodded at each other. A simple gesture, that held a simple message. _Be safe._

I turned to Nikolai's plane in time to wave a goodbye at the two Captains. Price slightly lifted his boonie hat towards me.

Within seconds, the two planes were completely out of sight. I sighed to myself, and prayed that they would be safe.

When I opened my eyes, I saw a little furry black stray dog staring at me. "Hey little fella...wanna come inside and join me while I run tech and comms? I'm all alone, love, they've all left me." I said to the dog. It stared at me for a brief minute, before suddenly deciding that I'm not worth it or something, and scurrying away.

"Fine." I turned around and walked back into the very empty, very quiet structure. It felt just like the first time I'd walked in here, nearly 3 months ago. I realized how much my life had changed, since then. I had gotten to know some pretty amazing men who were as strong as they were kind, and as jovial as they were serious. They were my family. They had definitely been better brothers to me than Vladimir could ever be.

And Roach. The beautiful man who was in love with me, and vice versa. He was so caring and so brave and so sincere, I couldn't have been luckier.

I was suddenly yanked out of my train of thought by a loud beep. My little work station was up and running, ready to go. I grabbed my headset and pulled it over my head as I sat down in front of the computer screens.

"This ends now."

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><p><strong>AN: Ahhh so close to the end! We've got like, 1 more chapter to the end of this story! Is Roach gonna die? Is Ghost gonna die? Am I gonna switch things up and kill off the Captains?! IS SOFIA GONNA DIE? I mean, the story is ending soon :P Teehee xD **

_**PLEASE REVIEW! **_

**THE NEXT UPDATE DEPENDS ON HOW MANY REVIEWS I GET XD**

****Anyway, I would like you guys to visit my profile and do the poll for which story I should update next.****


	14. The Stand

**A/N: This was so difficult to write. So much of battle chatter, to be honest I don't think this was one of my good ones. Will definitely have to redo when I'm done with the story (which will be soon). **

**Please review!**

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><p>"Operation Loose Ends is a go." I finally got to announce after nearly an hour of sitting at my station with nothing to do. I had been running every single diagnostic to scan for every possible malfunction in the systems and the intel almost 50 times each.<p>

"Copy that. Alpha team is moving." Captain Price said over the intercom. "Roger, Princess. Strike team is moving." Ghost announced almost immediately. My lack of a callsign was suddenly brought up one dinner, and Price wasted no time in reminding everyone about my nickname, which led to my callsign titled Princess. "Copy that. Engage Makarov on sight. Good luck." I said, biting my lip.

We were so close. So. Close.

If only this mission could go without any obstructions or casualties.

I hadn't finished thinking that thought when Ghost's loud yell suddenly pierced through my quiet surroundings.

"AMBUSH!"

I whipped my head to the right side of my station, and watched through Roach's headcam as landmines erupted from the ground. Gary immediately went prone. I saw some others who weren't that lucky.

"Shitshitshitshit" I muttered under my breath, freaking out. Of course Makarov knew. He always knew.

"Targets! Left side! Left side!" Ghost shouted as explosions still went on. I pulled up the live satellite scans of the area and turned it to infrared. "Snipers, do you have eyes on Makarov?" I asked.

"That's a negative. We've got no visual on Makarov, repeat – no visual on the target." Archer said.

"They've got this area presighted for mortar fire!" Scarecrow came through. "Guys, watch out, I've got RPGs and heavy gunfire headed your way!" I assisted.

"Copy that Princess. I need a head count of members deceased, over."

"Roger wilco Lieutenant." I quickly scanned nearby bodies for Taskforce 141 identification. "I've got seven down. Neon, Royce, Rook, Rocket, Worm, Chemo and Meat, over." It killed me to have to identify the dead.

My eyes travelled to the doorway where the boys had been standing less than 2 hours ago. Their voices started to slowly sound out in my head.

_"Oh fuck you bitch." "Dude that's Roach's job now." _Meat.

_"I bet you fifty we're gonna find Makarov." _Royce_._

"_You traitor!" _Neon.

_" –_

"Counterattack into the smoke! Push push push!" Ghost's orders snapped me out of my reverie. No, I couldn't mourn now. They needed me. Roach needed me. Ghost needed me. Anyone left alive needed me.

I turned to my left and pressed the buttons for the Captain's intercom. "Price and Soap, this is Princess. We've got a situation at the safehouse. They're being ambushed. Highly advice treating your mission carefully; Makarov's men may already know you're there."

"Damn. Copy that, Princess."

"I'm going to go silent. Over and out." I got off the Captain's comms and returned to the bloodbath that covered every single one of my screens on my right.

They plowed through the smoke, engaging foot-mobiles along the way. They reached the perimeter of the safehouse. "We got two trucks leaving the target building." Archer announced.

"Don't let them get away! Fire Javelins!" I ordered.

"Roger that, firing Javelins, danger close!"

"Javelins, danger close! Get away from the road!" Ghost yelled. "Two away!" Archer cleared.

The two Javelin missiles hit the truck. I immediately began scanning through the debris.

"Moving vehicles have been neutralized. Be advised, we have not, I repeat, we have not spotted Makarov, and no one else has left the house." Archer said. "It's a negative on Makarov. Those trucks may have been decoys, over." I said bitterly.

"Roger that, we're advancing on the house now!" Ghost said. "I've got visual on two more trucks parked on the driveway and foot-mobiles." I announced. "Copy that, Princess. Clear the perimeter! Breach and clear the safehouse! Go! Go!" Ghost ordered.

A cold shiver ran through me. This wasn't right. It was supposed to be easy. They weren't supposed to know we were coming.

I patched into the Captains' comms. "How's the graveyard coming?"

"Thanks to your heads-up, we knew what was coming. Currently taking cover." The Scottish accent almost sounded like music to my ears.

"Copy that. Any sign of Makarov?" I asked, scanning through Soap's headcam feed. "Soap, tango at 10 o' clock!" I added.

Soap swiftly shot him down. "Thanks Princess. Negative on Makarov, haven't seen the bastard. How are the boys holdin' up?"

"Not good." Then I felt bad, like as if I wasn't having any faith in them. "Pretty okay, we lost Neon, Meat, Royce, Rook, Rocket,Worm and Chemo though."

Soap must've heard something off in my voice. "Fuck. Lass, you alright?"

"Will be when we catch this son of a – no. That would make my mother a bitch." I could hear Soap and Price laugh over the comms. "Shut up. Slip of the tongue."

"Right." Price said. "Whatever."

"Shepherd this is Ghost." Ghost said, patching into the main comms. No sign of Makarov, I repeat, no sign of Makarov. Captain Price, any luck in Afghanistan?"

"Plenty...at least fifty hired guns here, but no sign of Makarov. Perhaps our intel was off."

"Well, the quality of the intel's about to change. This safehouse is a bloody goldmine."

"Copy that. Ghost, have your team collect everything you can for an operations playbook. Names, contacts, places, everything."

"We're already on it sir. Makarov will have nowhere to run."

"That's the idea. I'm bringing up the extraction force, E.T.A. five minutes. Get that intel. Shepherd out."

"Roach, get on Makarov's computer and start the transfer. Ozone, you're on rear security. I've got the front. Go." Ghost ordered. "All of you, keep your eyes open, we still have no – holy shit are those the plans for the airport massacre?!" My eyes widened as I saw all the plans and blueprints stuck up on the walls.

"Yeap." Scarecrow said. "What – he just left them pinned up on a wall like that? It's been 3 months since...and Spetsnaz protocol is to never leave evidence anywhere but in steel safes."

"Maybe he thought this was his safe. A safe safehouse, you know?" Scarecrow said. I could hear Ozone chuckling. "Can everyone stop laughing at me?" I whined over the comms. "I'm not laughing!" Ozone said – wait for it – while laughing. "I don't understand how Ozone counts as 'everyone'?"

"I said called Makarov a son of a bitch a while ago and the Captains laughed."

I shouldn't have said that. Ghost, Ozone and Scarecrow started laughing their asses off. "Wait what I don't get it!" Gary said, sounding like a tiny child. "She just called her own mother a bitch."

"Oh...hahaha!" Roach started laughing, which was pretty funny seeing as the other three guys had already stopped laughing by now.

"Alright, fun's over. There's an armory in the basement. Better stock up while you can." I suggested. "Makarov's men are going to do whatever it takes to keep us from leaving with this intel. We need to protect the DSM until the transer's done. Use the weapons caches and set up your claymores if you've got any left. Defensive positions, let's go!" Ghost said.

Price came in on the main comms. "Task Force, this is Price. More of Makarov's men just arrived at the boneyard... Soap, cover me. I'm gonna slot that guy over there and use his radio to tap into their comms. Ghost, we're going silent for a few minutes. Good luck up there in Russia. Price out."

"Ready to engage." Scarecrow said.

"I'm in position." Ozone called out.

"Sniper Team One to strike team, be advised we got enemy helos approaching from the northwest and southeast. Enemy helos in 15 seconds." Archer announced.

"Copy that. Enemy helos in 15 seconds." Ghost said.

The next few minutes were full of nothing but gunfire. I assisted, along with Archer, calling out all the patterns and directions and warning them of the danger ahead. When I heard Ozone's cry of pain over the comms, my heart nearly stopped. And then, almost immediately, Scarecrow hit the floor. It must've been a headshot, because Scarecrow wasn't alive to call it out. I felt numb.

I heard the loud explosion of a grenade going off close to Roach, and that shut his headcam off pretty fast. His screen turned black. "Roach, I've lost you on headcam feeds. Repeat, I do not have any live headcam feeds from Beta Team. You're gonna have to call out everything you see, boys."

"Copy that." Ghost and Roach replied.

And then, soon, "Roach, the transfer's complete! I'll cover the main approach while you get the DSM! Move!" Ghost ordered.

"Got it! Let's get outta here!" Roach announced. "This is Shepherd. We're almost at the LZ. What's your status, over?"

"We're on our way to the LZ! Roach, let's go!"

"Watch out, there is a large group of hostiles converging on you. They're trying to bracket you guys using their mortars!"

"Solid cop – ARGH!" Roach's scream deafened me. "Roach? Roach! Gary?! Ghost, what's happening?!" I asked, desperate.

"He got knocked out by a mortar explosion! Thunder Two-One, I've popped red smoke in the treeline! Standby to engage on my mark!"

"Roger that. I have a visual on the red smoke. Standing by."

"Thunder Two-One, cleared hot!"

"Roger that, cleared hot. Guns guns guns."

"Roach! I've got you, Roach, hang on!" I heard Ghost say over the comms. "Roach! Gary! Gary please are you okay?!"

"M' fine. I'll be...fine. " He started to cough, and it sounded as if he was sputtering blood.

_Oh my god oh my god ohmygod_

"Princess! Come in!" Price's voice yanked me back to the other side of my station. "I'm here, Price, what's the situation?"

"We've got unidentified hostiles firing at us – they're not in the same gear as Makarov's men. Can you get an ID on them?"

"Copy that." I used the satellite feeds to get images of the patches on the hostiles' fully black gear. The logo was of a skull and rifles. It seemed oddly familiar. I ran it through the DIA's database.

The sounds of chopper blades could be heard over Beta team's comms. "Do you have the DSM?" Shepherd's voice resounded throughout my vicinity.

_Yes they do of course they do can we just get moving oh my fucking god_

My main screen pinged and the words 'SHADOW COMPANY' flashed across the screen. _Shadow Company? Shepherd's men? Why the heck were they attacking –_

"We have it, sir!" I could hear Ghost straining.

"Good. That's one less loose end."

"Ghost, don't trust Shepherd I repeat DO NOT TRUST SHEPHERD SHOOT HIM _SHOOT HIM NOW_!" I screamed into the comms.

A loud gunshot rang out.

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><p><strong>AN: Yeah, I know. Bad, bad, bad. Sorry about the cliffhanger, I'm just still working out the next scenes, but I figured I shouldn't make you guys wait. I will try to upload ASAP, but I have to focus on 'The Shadow of a Ghost' and 'Code of Law' as well so yeah.**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**

******Anyway, I would like you guys to visit my profile and do the poll for which story I should update next.******


	15. The Fall

**A/N: The end of Loose Ends and MW2. Text in ****_Bold and Italics _means it is being spoken in another language, which is always Russian unless stated otherwise.**

**I'm sorry, I really am.**

* * *

><p>My heart shattered into a million pieces as I heard Ghost's deafening "NO!" following the gunshot. Then another shot, and I prayed that Ghost had taken it but no, I only heard him groan in pain and there was a thud as his body hit the ground.<p>

Everything felt numb.

"Ghost! Come in, this is Price! We're under attack by Shepherd's men at the boneyard! Soap, hold the left flank! Do not trust Shepherd! I say again, do not trust Shepherd! Soap, get down!—"

Too late, a warning, like mine.

I didn't know what to do, as I heard weird scratchy noises through the comms that sounded like the bodies were being moved. This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be happening. Shepherd betrayed us. He betrayed Roach and Ghost and Soap and Price and Scarecrow and Ozone and Neon and –

I suddenly got up. And then I sat back down. "Roach?" My voice was a whisper. Of course he wouldn't hear it. "Roach! Gary!" I raised my voice into the comms.

"Is anyone alive for fuck's sake?!" I shrieked.

"Soph..." I heard Gary's cracked voice.

"Gary? Gary oh my god Gary I'm sorry I'm so sorry I should've known I should've said something earlier oh my god I'm so fucking sorry –"

"Shh...s'not your...fault." He coughed roughly. "Ah...oh god oh god oh god he's gonna set us on fire he's gonna set us on fire Sofia oh my god help – ah ARGH AH NO STOP OH GOD NO!" Gary yelled and screamed and cried, as I imagined flames surrounded his body and burned through his gear and his flesh and crept into his bones and boiled everything down to ashes.

"Gary!" A few tears slowly rolled down my cheeks but they soon stopped.

"Sofia...ah god Sofia!"

"Gary?"

"There's a silver box in my oh GOD fuck...it's in my – my room. Under the bed. Take it. Please. Oh god he's dead Soph Ghost is dead oh my god."

"Okay, okay I will. I promise. Gary I'm so sorry."

"Go...get Shepherd and Makarov."

"I will."

"Sofia, but Sofia, please don't get obsessed. Please – for me, please."

"I won't, I swear." I was clutching onto my headset and microphone like as if they could bring Gary back to life.

"You're so beautiful. Your eyes." I could hear Gary start crying. "Oh god I want to see your eyes again. I want to see you."

"You will see me again. You will see me soon."

"No, I shouldn't. Stay alive."

"Okay."

There was silence for a while, in which I feared the worst.

"Gary?!"

"Sof – ...I...I'm gonna die." I closed my eyes, nodding slowly. "Listen...I lo –"

His voice suddenly stopped right there. "Gary?"

No response. There was a lump in my throat. My eyes started burning. My entire body seemed so heavy. I leaned back in my seat and ran my hand through my hair. I felt so tired, all of a sudden. So exhausted.

He was gone. Gary was gone. My beautiful, brilliant, amazing Roach was dead. Ghost was also gone. And so were Ozone and Scarecrow and Neon and Rook and Rocket and Meat and Royce and Chemo and Worm and Arc –

Archer. Toad.

The snipers.

"Archer, Toad, are you there? Do you copy?! This is Princess here. Do you copy?!"

"Prin – cess. It's Toad. Archer's...dead."

"Are you okay?"

"No...I'm losing blood fast. Don't reckon I have long."

"Okay...okay..."

"Please stay with me." And then I remember Toad was the youngest in the Taskforce along with Roach. And like Roach had his mentor, Ghost, Toad had Archer.

"I'll stay with you Toad."

"Call me...call me Isaac."

"Isaac. That's a nice name."

"The last thing Dan said to me was...that he was proud of me. That I'd done well."

"You've done brilliant, Isaac."

There was silence again, but this time I was assured of his life by his constant heavy, laboured breathing.

"Sofia?"

"Yes, Isaac?"

"Sing me a song. Please."

"Okay." The song choice wasn't hard to make.

"_Love of mine some day you will die_

_But I'll be close behind_

_I'll follow you into the dark_

_No blinding light or tunnels to gates of white_

_Just our hands clasped so tight_

_Waiting for the hint of a spark"_

"_If Heaven and Hell decide_

_That they both are satisfied_

_Illuminate the NOs on their vacancy signs_

_If there's no one beside you_

_When your soul embarks_

_Then I'll follow you into the dark"_

"You have a lovely voice." Isaac interrupted, much like one would once they realise they don't have much time left and have to say whatever needs to be said.

"Thank you."

"Everyone's dead aren't they?"

"Captain Price and MacTavish are still alive. Nikolai too."

"Send them my regards."

"Okay."

"And one more thing. I don't reckon Shepherd is going to call up our family members and tell them, and even if he does it wouldn't be the truth, so can you mail the letter I have behind my mirror? The address is on the envelope."

"Sure, Isaac. Who's it for?"

"Allison. My girlfriend."

"Okay Isaac."

"Sofia?"

"Yeah?"

"I – I don't want to go."

"I don't want you to either." I replied, but that was the end of our conversation. His breathing had stopped.

"I didn't want any of you to go."

There were loud shouts outside the building. I perked up.

Shepherd must've been tying up loose ends.

I dashed to my room and grabbed a handgun, just as I started to hear loud gunshots. When I popped back outside, I saw Shadow Company soldiers firing into my workstation, destroying all and any evidence. When they saw me, the trio immediately turned and raised their rifles but I shot them down with barely any effort. All the training that my father put me through served their purpose. Aiming became second nature since I'd been trained by a Spetsnaz commander.

Anger and a white, hot vicious need for vengeance coursed through my veins.

Shepherd won't live to see the next sunrise. I had to make sure of that.

I geared up and grabbed To – Isaac's letter to his girlfriend and Gary's silver box. I stuffed both of them into my vest. As I walked to the weapons room, I paused at the pool table, noticing Roach's last unturned Tarot card.

Taking a deep breath I gingerly stepped towards it, and overturned it.

Death. (1)

I stood unmoving, staring at it, unable to think. I squeezed my eyes shut and rapidly continued moving. I didn't have time to mourn.

I didn't have time to mourn.

Not having much space, I couldn't grab everything that I needed from the weapons room, so I only took what was important and what I'd been trained with. I shoved all of the equipment into a small Helo at the docking area and took off. I didn't know how to fly professionally, but Nikolai had gone through the basics for everyone in the 141 one day as part of training, and it was enough to keep me from crashing the plane.

Once I was a good safe distance away, I squeezed the trigger in my hand.

The claymores I'd set around and in the building went off. My home for the past 3 months was nothing but a dusty, burning cloud of debris now. I knew that Shepherd would have destroyed the entire base, and I couldn't let him do it. If it had to go, I would be because I did it. Not some traitorous bastard.

I turned my Helo towards the North and piloted it forward.

"Roach? Ghost? Come in, Ghost. Do you copy? Does anyone copy?" MacTavish's voice came over the radio I'd brought along. "This is Princess. I copy."

"Shepherd betrayed us."

"Have to trust someone to be betrayed. I never did. Nikolai, come in. Do you have our location?" said Price.

"Da. Inbound, Price. But I am not the only one. You've got Shepherd's men on one side, Makarov's on the other."

"We'll have to take them all out then."

"Or let them take each other out." I said, my voice sounding morbid.

"Either way, I'll see you on the other side, my friend." Nikolai said.

"I'll catch up." I said.

And with that, I didn't say anything. Soap and Price battled the two factions while I navigated my Helo over to the boneyard. I only interjected into the comms (which I'd left open) nearly 20 minutes later when I heard Price say something completely out of his mind.

"We can use their comms to listen in on their radio traffic. I'm going to try to contact Makarov."

"Contact him for what?!" I raised my voice.

"He'll know where Shepherd is." Price said. I opened my mouth to retort, but got cut off.

"Makarov, this is Price. Shepherd's a war hero now. He's got your operations playbook and he's got a blank check. Give me what you got on Shepherd, and I'll take care of the rest. I know you can hear me on this channel Makarov." Price said.

There was complete silence. "Dammit Makarov, I know you're there!" Price attempted to get Makarov talking but it wasn't working. At least till I opened my mouth.

"Brother, if I were you, I'd do as Price says. You and I both know you won't last a week like this."

"And neither will you."

"You wanna bet?" I said sarcastically. "Cut it out Sof. Makarov...you ever hear the old saying...the enemy of my enemy is my friend?"

"Price, one day you're going to find that cuts both ways. Shepherd is using Site Hotel Bravo. You know where it is. I'll see you in hell."

"Looking forward to it. Give my regards to Zakhaev if you get there first."

"I hope you know how dangerous this is. He could be lying, for all you know." Soap said.

"He's not." I said.

"And how do you know?"

"Because I'm his sister. And I know him." Soap didn't say anything after that. "I will re-route to Site Hotel Bravo, if someone would care to tell me where it is?"

"Nikolai, send her the coordinates."

Within minutes, I received the coordinates on my phone and I patched it into the Helo.

* * *

><p>I landed the Helo haphazardly and jumped out. I looked around to see sand, sand, and more sand. "Sofia!" Nikolai was leaning on his Little Bird, a rifle in hand.<p>

"_**Where's Price and Soap?**_" I asked, walking to him.

"_**Gone.**_"

"_**And where are you supposed to pick them up from?**_"

"_**Price called it off. Said it was a one-way flight.**_"

I nodded. A pause. "_**You believe that?**_"

"_**Not for a second.**_"

"_**Then let's move.**_" I said, grinning. "_**We'll take mine**_**.**" Nikolai said.

"_**Alright, but I've got gear and weaponry in mine. Let's transfer everything over.**_"

We quickly and quietly started to move everything I brought with me over to Nikolai's bigger, better helo. "_**All this artillery for just one man?**_" Nikolai asked.

"_**Not just Shepherd. We still have to take down Makarov. And there will be people looking for us.**_"

Nikolai just nodded. Once we were done, we boarded the chopper.

* * *

><p>"<em><strong>I've got eyes on them. It doesn't look good.<strong>_" Nikolai said. I looked out of the cockpit.

I could see Shepherd beating Price, while the latter was on the ground, motionless. Soap was a few feet away with what was clearly a knife embedded in his torso.

"_**Shit. We don't have much time. By the time we get down there, they'll both be dead! Nikolai, steady the plane. I'm going to take a shot from here.**_"

"_**Sofia, you want to take a shot from, what, 800 yards away?**_"

"_**I'll have to.**_" I replied, as I grabbed Archer's sniper rifle that I had taken from the weapons room. I set it on its tripod, and I adjust its aim. It's difficult without a proper spotter, but it wasn't anything I wasn't trained for. The only problem was the oncoming sandstorm. The dust sometimes covered my view and the wind was rather strong.

I aimed down the sights. Shepherd's head appeared in my crosshairs. I promised Gary I'd kill him.

For the first time in what felt like a long time, I felt even slightly happy.

Bastard didn't know what was coming.

I moved the rifle a little left to Shepherd's head, and then down, to make up for the wind, held my breath, tucked in my elbows and squeezed the trigger.

A knife suddenly stabbed Shepherd's left eye mere seconds before my bullet penetrated his head, completely taking his forehead off with it and turning his already dead brain into mush.

The chopper immediately began its descent. I looked up to see Soap's arm fall roughly to his side. Even on his deathbed, the Scottish Captain had great aim. I turned around and started shoving the weaponry to the sides of the helo to make room.

Nikolai quickly landed the chopper nearby. I hopped out of it and dashed to help Price with Soap. He didn't look good. Price had done what he could at the moment with some gauze, but the blood was seeping through and the wound looked critical.

"I thought I told you this was a one-way trip!" Price yelled over the noise at Nikolai.

"Looks like it still is...they'll be looking for us you know..."

Soap stumbled and I held on to him tighter.

"We gotta get Soap outta here..." Price said.

"Da - I know a place." Nikolai assured him as we loaded Soap into the chopper.

Nikolai took off as Price continued attempting to stitch Soap's wound. I sat by him and held on to his hand. I felt a light squeeze and I turned.

"Sofia. What happened to everyone? What about Roach and Ghost?" Soap strained to ask, but he did.

"Soap." Price said, trying to stop him.

I opened my mouth several times to try and answer him, but I couldn't. I couldn't tell him that the man I loved and his caring mentor and a young sniper and a great leader and so many other amazing men were now dead. Gone. Forever. That I could never see them again.

Then finally, I broke. I sank to the ground in defeat. The lump was in my throat and tears began running down my cheeks as I groaned in anguish. The weight of the world seemed to press down on me and I couldn't breathe. My head hurt but all I wanted to do was repeatedly slam it against a hard surface. I felt as if _I _was on fire, as if a burning inferno raged over my body, scorching my skin and taking my life, which it did by taking Gary away. I wanted to see him. I wanted to see his eyes. "Sofia. They're gone. Leave it." Price said, touching my arm.

"_Sof – ...I...I'm gonna die. Listen...I lo –"_

"_I – I don't want to go."_

"_I didn't want any of you to go." _

"They're all gone."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Song: I Will Follow You Into The Dark - Death Cab For Cutie

(1): The Tarot Card with Death's picture doesn't actually always symbolizes Death. It symbolizes endings and finishings etc.

**I am sorry. I swear, but it was the plan from Day 1. And life isn't going to keep everyone around you alive. Especially not in the middle of a war. Sofia just needed to learn that in a hard way. **

**So anyway this is the end of The New Chick. Of course I'll have the first chapter of the sequel up in a week or two. **

**I just want to thank each and every person who reviewed, whether it was good reviews or bad reviews, you guys still helped me and pushed me to succeed. And don't worry, I will come back and I will rewrite this whole damn thing. Perhaps even make it longer.**

**I'm genuinely apologetic for killing the 141 boys off. But trust me, I have already written the epilogue for the sequel (which will be the final instalment in Sofia's stories) and it has a relatively happy ending. (Definitely happier than this).**

**Anyway, I would like you guys to visit my profile and do the poll. It's on which pairing is better, SofiaxSoap or SofiaxYuri. (There's also SofiaxRoach, but obviously I cannot continue writing for that.) And another one for which story I should update next. **

**Once again, THANK. YOU.**


	16. There's a Sequel!

**Hello,**

**You guys have been asking for a sequel since I finished this about a year ago. Well, guess what?**

**I've just posted the first chapter of the Sequel to 'The New Chick'! *confetti***

**It's called Road to Revenge, so please keep an eye out for it! (the website says it'll be up in 4-8 hours, so maybe you guys can't see it yet)**

**I really hope to get more reviews and favorites than this! The support I've received so far is nothing short of fantastic and I sincerely appreciate it!  
><strong>

**YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST! :D**

**Thank you,**

**SMakarov**


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